Glass 
Book 




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fopyriglitls^. 



CQEmiGHT DEPOSIT. 



The Improvement of the City 

Elementary School Teacher 

in Service 



By 

Charles Russell, Ph. D. 



Teachers College, Columbia University 
Contributions to Education, No. 128 



Published by 
^eacijersf CoUege, Columbia Winiiytvsiit^ 

New York City 
1922 



^QaQg[dpfi 



Copyright, 1922 by Charles Russell 



C^'^i^ 



SEP -o 1322 
©C1A683865 



a 



-j^ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

"© To Dr. Wmiam C. Bagley, Dr. Milo B. Hilligas, 

^ and Dr. William H. Kilpatrick, who have guided me 

throughout this study with sympathy and patience I 
owe that debt of gratitude which students owe to 
their true teachers. 

Among the many others who have contributed in 
some measure to the completion of this work Dr. 
Frank M. McMurry, Dr. I. L. Kandel, and my father 
have added much through their kindly criticisms and 
encom*agement. 

To all the teachers, fellow students, and teachers- 
in-service who have helped me to clearer thinking I 
express my sincere thanks. 

Charles Russell 



CONTENTS 

Page 

I. RISE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE AGENCIES 
FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF TEACHERS IN 
SERVICE 

Introduction 1 

The Teachers' Institute as a Factor 1 

The Chautauqua as a Factor 4 

Supervision of Schools as a Factor 5 

University Extension as a Factor 8 

II. THE CHARACTER OF PRESENT DAY AGENCIES 

Extension Activities 14 

Teachers' Meetings 32 

Devices 47 

Professional Supervision 65 

Work with New Teachers 71 

III. THE FUNDAMENTALS OF IMPROVEMENT 

The Sources of Improvement 86 

The Kinds of Improvement 87 

The Periods of Improvement 88 

The Problem of the Acquisition of Technique 

in the School System 89 

The Problem of the Increase of Mastery of 

Subject-Matter with the Teacher in 

Service 103 

The Problem of the Increase in the Idealism 

of Teachers 123 

IV. A SUGGESTED SCHEME OF IMPROVEMENT 
FOR A CITY 

The Novice 126 

The Journeyman Teacher 127 

The Graduate Teacher 130 

The Master Teacher 130 

V. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CITY REPORTS CITED 

IN TEXT 135 



CHAPTER I 

THE RISE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE 

AGENCIES FOR THE IMPROVEMENT 

OF TEACHERS IN SERVICE 

The improvement of the teacher in service represents one of 
the oldest and at the same time one of the most recent developments 
in the field of education. It represents one of the oldest phases in 
that for the earliest teachers the large part of improvement came 
in service. It represents one of the most recent phases, in that the 
past few years have witnessed remarkable efforts on the part of 
teachers to improve while in service, and on the part of administra- 
tors and boards of control to supply the means through which 
these efforts might be realized. The increasing appreciation of 
the difficulty of supplying adequately trained teachers through pre- 
service training on the one hand, and the increasing appreciation 
of the importance of universal elementary education on the other, 
have combined to give to the problem of the improvement of the 
elementary school teacher while in service a fundamental signifi- 
cance. 

Because of the pressures upon teachers to provide a better 
education for the children of this country, and because of other 
factors, — such as the varying needs of teachers, the opportunities 
which are available because of the characteristics of their work, and 
the extent to which different types of service for teachers are 
possible, — there have developed a large number of different agencies 
designed in some cases primarily to satisfy the needs of teachers, 
and in other cases, when not so designed, so utilized because of 
their adaptability to satisfy these needs. 

Most of the agencies now operating trace their beginnings to 
one or more of four great movements, all originally more or less 
independent of each other, but in the end all contributing to the 
same result. One of these movements started in close relation to, 
and almost simultaneously with, the early efforts in this coimtry to 
give pre-service training to teachers. The same year, 1839, that 



2 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

saw the first state normal school established in Massachusetts saw 
also the establishment by Henry Barnard of what is now known as 
the Teachers' Institute. This first institute was really in the 
nature of a simimer school, as it continued for six weeks during the 
summer. In 1850, in his first report, Henry Barnard, State 
Superintendent of Common Schools in Connecticut, wrote, 

The object and legitimate scope of these meetings must be, not to become 
a substitute for the patient, thorough, and protracted study, which the master- 
ship of any branch of knowledge requires — nor yet for the practical drilling 
which a well conducted normal school alone can give — but to refresh the recol- 
lection of principles already acquired, by rapid reviews, and by new and safe 
methods of presenting the same, to communicate hints and suggestions to aid 
in self-improvement from wise and experienced instructors — to solve the 
difficulties and doubts of the inexperienced — and to enkindle through the sym- 
pathies of numbers, engaged in the same pursuits, the aspirations of a true 
professional feeling. ^ 

The characteristics of later agencies which bring teachers to- 
gether for purposes of instruction, which provide instruction at 
such times and in such a way as will not interfere with their teach- 
ing, and which have a voluntary attendance, grew directly from 
this agency started by Henry Barnard. There quickly developed 
variations from this type. Within six years, in October 1845, 
there appeared in Massachusetts a late fall institute of ten days 
duration. Rhode Island, under the leadership of Henry Barnard, 
was the first state to make definite provision for annual institutes, 
and from these beginnings has spread a movement that is nearly 
universal in this country and is still called by the name attached 
to it only a few years after it first appeared. 

With the increase in the number of teachers and with the ever 
larger groupings, the early character of the institute underwent 
many changes. The instruction became more and more general 
because of the size of the audiences. The difficulty of bringing 
the work into close relationship with the individual classrooms 
resulted in shorter sessions because there was less, from the tradi- 
tional standpoint, for the institutes to do. Other phases of work 
crept in. Administrative and routine matters found a place. 
Attendance became a requirement in many places, and in others 

* Barnard, Henry, Extract from the Fifth Annual Report of the Superintendent of Common 
Schools to the General Assembly of Connecticut, 1850, American Journal of Education, 
New Series, No. 14, Vol. XXXIX, June 1865, p. 277. 



Historical Development 3 

teachers were paid for attending. State control appeared which 
resulted in the holding of many institutes under compulsion. The 
institutes were often held late in August or early in September and 
much of the time was utilized in administrative preparation for 
the new year's work. Eventually efforts were made to bring 
about a closer connection between the work of the institutes and 
the needs of the teachers in their classrooms. The large institutes 
were divided into two parts, one of which consisted of general 
meetings of teachers for "inspiration and uplift," and the other of 
sectional meetings for purposes of specific instruction. This is a 
type of institute frequently found at the present time. 

In a recent study of this agency, including the institutes of 
forty-seven states, two facts are revealed which show the trend 
away from the early idea of the founder. Miss Lommen reports : 

Attendance. Of the thirty states requiring institutes by law, twenty-six 
require attendance on the part of teachers, and of the eight states recommend- 
ing the institute as a worthy agency, three require the attendance of all teachers 
for certification and the renewal of certificates. In thirteen states teachers 
are permitted to exercise volition with regard to attendance. ^ 

The extent to which state control operates in making the in- 
stitutes different from Barnard's original type is shown in the 
following : 

Maintenance of Institutes. Among the various plans for financing these 
professional gatherings, eleven state departments maintain the entire expense 
of their promotion; five states require the teachers of the state to defray the 
expense of instruction by payment of fees for this purpose and by the utilization 
of portions of certification fees; six states maintain the cost of these training 
agencies by county board appropriations; eighteen states combine support 
from the state departments of education, county board appropriations, and 
teachers' fees.^ 

Closely allied to the teachers' institutes, and probably in- 
fluenced in large degree by them, are the various "teachers' meet- 
ings." Meetings of teachers in city school systems have two 
phases, one the consideration of routine school matters, and the 
other the utilization of the meetings for professional improvement. 
This latter phase of the teachers' meeting reflects the influence of 
the early institute. 

^Lommen, Georgina, The Teachers' Institute as an Agency for Training Teachers in Service, 
Journal of Rural Eden. Vol. I, No. 2. October, 1921, p. 62. 
^ lUd. p. 63. 



4 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

The teachers^ association, closely resembling the institute in 
some respects, differs from it in being a purely voluntary grouping 
of teachers, partaking sometimes of the institute in its programs, 
but at the same time reflecting some of the characteristics of a legis- 
lative and deliberative body, which deals with professional prob- 
lems in a way that is free from the official control of the school 
system. 

A different set of agencies grew out of an earUer movement for 
the improvement of teachers in service. The educational ren- 
aissance which produced the normal school and the institute, 
produced also the germ of that unique American institution, the 
Chautauqua. In 1826 Josiah Holbrook, at Millbury, Mass., 
started the Lyceum movement, which in the next few years ''spread 
rapidly over Massachusetts and Connecticut."^ 

The purpose of the Lyceums he organized in the different towns was (1) 
the improvement of the common schools, (2) the formation of lecture courses 
and the establishment of classes for the education of adults, and (3) the organi- 
zation of libraries and museums.'' 

The activities of the Lyceum are well expressed in this pur- 
pose. The American Lyceimi Association and the American In- 
stitute of Instruction grew out of it, the former having a short life 
of but a decade while the latter still is active to-day. The move- 
ment also paved the way for the beginning of the Chautauqua 
Assembly which was founded in 1874 by Louis Miller of Akron, 
Ohio, and Dr. John H. Vincent, and also of the Chautauqua Sun- 
day School Assembly. While originally started as a nonsectarian 
religious organization the Chautauqua movement soon became a 
general forum which included many secular activities. The 
growth was remarkable and new features were added each year to 
the summer meetings. The Chautauqua and the Lyceum are 
interesting more from the standpoint of what they have in the 
past contributed to the training and education of teachers in 
service than from the standpoint of what they are at the present 
time contributing. Among the activities of interest here is, first, 
the establishment in 1878 of the Chautauqua Literary and Scien- 
tific Circle. 

^Monroe, Will S., Amer. Lye. Assn., Cyclop, of Ed., Vol. I, p. 111. 
^ Ihid. 



Historical Development 5 

This plan of home reading extending over four years and offering to ma- 
ture people what was described as "the college outlook" met with instant 
success.^ 

This was the direct inspiration and forerunner of the reading 
circle movement for the improvement of the teacher while in 
service. The purpose of these reading circles was to stimulate 
teachers to a professional point of view in their reading, and to 
help them to become better teachers by providing stimulating 
professional books in the subjects of their interests.' That this 
is an effective agency in the improvement of teachers is suggested 
by the fact that many states have made the reading circle work a 
prerequisite to certification in higher schedules and to re-certifica- 
tion.'' In order to stimulate the work that teachers may do in 
reading the United States Commissioner of Education issues a 
diploma to members of the National Rural School Teachers' Circle 
in recognition of the successful completion of certain reading circle 
courses.^ 

A second factor of interest was the development under Dr. 
William R. Harper, in the year 1883, of the correspondence instruc- 
tion. This tj^'pe of instruction was given for several years by the 
Chautauqua, until it was assumed by "two or three leading Uni- 
versities."^ 

The Chautauqua itself, though it draws many teachers every 
year, either in the parent organization at Chautauqua, N. Y., or in 
the nearly six hundred similar organizations or ''circuits" through- 
out the country, has to-day little influence upon the teacher from a 
professional point of view. The service that it has rendered, 
however, should not be minimized. It has been a powerful factor, 
first, in developing the ideal of using the summer vacation for pur- 
poses of study; secondly in paving the way for reading circles and 
correspondence instruction; and thirdly in helping inform public 
opinion with regard to schools and the quality of teachers in 
them. 

The genesis of a third large development in the existing agen- 
cies for the improvement of teachers may also be recognized in the 

^Vincent, G. E., Chautauqua Movement, Cyclop, of Ed., Vol. I., p. 581. 

^See Ruediger, W. C, Agencies for the Improvement of Teachers in Service, Bulletin, U. S. 
Bureau of Ed., No. 3, No. 449, 1911. 

^Rept. ofComm. of Ed. of U. S., 1919, p. 103. 



6 Improvement oj Teachers in Service 

first quarter of the last century and is to be noted in the develop- 
ment and increasing definition of the responsibilities of the public 
in the conduct of education. Certain phases of this movement led, 
in 1837, to the appointment of the first city school superintendent, 
(in Buffalo, N. Y.), and in the gradual delegation of school authority 
by the controlling lay board to this new officer. The primary 
function of the original lay board, or school committee, was to see 
whether the school itself was doing the work that was expected of 
it.^ The development of the superintendency and the school 
principalship followed, to do for the schools what it was becoming 
manifestly impossible for a group of laymen to do ; namely — over- 
see the work of the school, plan for its extension, and maintain its 
standards. The development was very slow until after the Civil 
War. Cubberley writes: 

It was not, however, until about 1850 or 1860, and one might almost say 
until after about 1870, that the special problems of city school organization 
and administration began to attract serious attention. In the first place, there 
were but few cities at an earlier date, and these were relatively small in size. 
Their school systems, too, were of relatively simple type, and their 
boards of school trustees, with the people of the districts, exercised a most 
complete control. But a few cities had as yet created the office of superinten- 
dent of schools, and the few which had assigned clerical rather than executive 
functions to the new official. As late as 1870 there were but twenty-seven 
city superintendents of schools employed in the entire United States, and with 
but thirteen of the thirty-seven states represented. As late as 1860, also, but 
sixty-nine of our present cities are regarded as having by that time organized 
a clearly defined high school course of instruction. 

Since 1870 the growth of the city school systems has been very rapid, 
and with this growth many new problems of school organization and adminis- 
tration have been pushed to the front. The number of city school systems 
has been multiplied rapidly since 1870 and the size of many then in existence 
has trebled or quadrupled. In 1870, too, there were but fourteen cities having 
100,000 inhabitants, and in 1910 there were fifty such cities, and these fifty 
cities contained 22.1 per cent of the total population of the United States.^ 

The increased need for better administration, the growing 
complexity of the school organization, and the demand for a better 
standardization of the work that the teachers were doing, meant 
that the critical and constructive activities of the principals and 

^SeeSuzzallo.H-. Rise of Local School Supvsn in Mass.,T. C. Cont.toEdcn.,No. 3, N. Y.,1906, 
and Cubberley, E. P., Public School Administration, Houghton Mifflin Co., Cambridge, 
Mass., Chaps. 8 and 10. 

^Cubberley, E. P., Public School Administration, Houghton Mifflin Co., Cambridge, Mass., 
1916, pp. 57-60. 



, Historical Development 7 

superintendents became more and more subordinated to executive 
and clerical routine. Less and less of their time could be given to 
their original duty, the inspection of schools. 

The part of the inspectional scheme that had originally been 
delegated to the superintendent of schools, and through him to the 
principals, eventually was assigned to a third group of officers 
whose main task was the inspection of schools and the standardiza- 
tion of the work throughout the school system. This inspection 
was an impersonal connection as it related to the teacher. Its 
chief purpose was a diagnosis of the school situation with the view 
of making changes either within the school to bring it up to standard 
in certain directions, or in the administrative regulations that 
would work toward the same end. This type of inspection was 
found to be inadequate because the key to the situation, the teacher, 
had been neglected. The change that came about served to shift 
the emphasis from the school system as the end to the child, with 
the improvement and acceleration of the education of the child as 
the chief objective. In view of this shift of emphasis the part 
played by the supervisor became inspectional only to the degree 
that the inspection was necessary in the location of difiiculties 
that prevented the teacher from achieving the ends for which he 
was striving. 

This view of supervision is essentially, then, one which con- 
templates the improvement of the teacher during his period of 
service. Out of it has come the use of the teachers' meetings of 
various kinds within the school system for the purpose of improving 
the equipment of the teacher in knowledge and technique. While 
the part that supervision, in its most sympathetic and personal 
aspects, can play in this improvement is large, there is much in 
the improvement of the teacher that is not within the real province 
of the supervisor. Because of the close official relation of the super- 
visor to the administration of the school system, it is very difficult 
for the supervisor or for supervision to do for the teacher all that 
may be included in the term improvement. The official relation- 
ship becomes in many cases a repressive factor. There are other 
agencies the freer character of which makes them more welcome to 
the teacher. As a consequence agencies which cannot be classed as 
supervisory are now contributing much to the teacher's improve- 
ment. 



8 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

In its most recent development supervision has recognized 
both the inspectional and the improvement phases. This is illus- 
trated by the trend in Detroit, where the supervisors are in reality 
experimental investigators. Their chief purposes are, first, to 
locate the difficulties in teaching, and secondly, to devise ways and 
means for helping the teachers to correct them. The early phases 
of this service are inspectional in character, while the later phases 
are supervisory in the narrower sense. For the Detroit teachers, 
too, elements of improvement also come in other ways than through 
supervision.^ 

The fourth source from which present-day agencies for the 
improvement of teachers have evolved is a more recent develop- 
ment than the others — namely, the extension movement. The 
character of university extension, as it first developed, is very well 
described in the German translation of the term, Volkshochschulen 
— "higher schools for the people." It is interesting to note, how- 
ever, that the earliest form of extension, in 1867 in England, was in 
connection with the improvement of teachers. Mr. James Stuart, 
fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, was invited ''by an associa- 
tion of ladies, mostly school teachers, to lecture to them in the 
north of England on the art of teaching."^ 

The movement, by which the Universities of Cambridge and 
Oxford [several years later] were able to extend the opportunities of 
higher education to those unable to attend the sessions of the Uni- 
versity itself, began rapidly at first ; then later, as certain problems 
of finance became intrusive, it remained nearly stationary for a 
decade or more; then, as the problems were solved, interest again 
increased. 

The extent of the movement in England by 1892-93, is shown 
by the following data: for the session 1892-93 in the four centers in 
England, Oxford, Cambridge, London and Victoria, 245 short 
courses were given, 362 courses of ten or more lectures and a total 
of 669 courses of all kinds. There were in addition 57,149 attend- 
ing individuals, out of whom 7,509 workers submitted weekly papers 
and of whom 4,256 passed the final examination.^ 

^Notably in opportunities for part-time University and College work during the school year as 

well as in the summer. 

^Russell, J. E., Extension of University Teaching in England and America, Ext. Bui. of Univ. 

of State of N. Y., No. 10, Oct., 1895., p. 162. 

'Russell, J. E., op. cit., condensation of tables, p. 221. 



Historical Development 9 

In the United States the "EngHsh scheme of university exten- 
sion" was laid before "the American Library Association in session 
at the Thousand Islands in 1887"' and the first course was given 
in Buffalo in the winter of 1887-88. The Chautauqua speakers of 
1888 advocated it and recommended its adoption in this country. 
In three centers in the United States — Philadelphia, New York, 
and Chicago — 229 short courses were given in 1892-93 ; 35 courses 
were of ten or more lectures; and the total offering amounted to 
264 courses of all kinds. The attendance aggregated 47,311 people, 
of whom 1,377 prepared papers weekly, and out of whom 1,016 
passed the final examination. "^ 

The work done in these years and later, established the princi- 
ples of extension work as they now apply to teachers: first, the 
feasiblity of individuals taking work of collegiate grade in centers 
away from institutions of higher learning; secondly, the feasibility 
of voluntary attendance and support ; and thirdly, the demonstrated 
value of professional study on a part-time basis. There have been 
many modifications, so that there are now both intramural and 
extramural extension through regular classes and correspondence 
extension modeled after the early efforts of the Chautauqua move- 
ment. The idea has spread to the normal schools, colleges, and 
even to the encouragement of the work by boards of education 
sponsored in many cases by these other institutions. 

Growing out of the demonstrated demand that was evidenced 
by the popularity of the Chautauqua movement, stimulated di- 
rectly by many of the specific activities of the Chautauqua meetings, 
and partaking of the collegiate character of the university extension 
movement, the summer session has become an est abh shed part of 
the work of higher educational institutions. While these sessions 
have offered a great variety of courses calculated to attract and 
cater to a wide range of people, the summer session from the first 
has been regarded by teachers as a medium of education peculiarly 
adapted to their needs and conditions. 

The extent to which to-day the teacher of this country is avail- 
ing himself of these various summer sessions is tremendous. 

There were 410 institutions which reported having summer sessions in 
1921, with a total of 253,111 students, a gain of 62,105 students, or about 32 

^Russell, J. E., ibid., p. 176. 
^Ibid, p. 221. 



10 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

per cent over 1920. Of these institutions 241 were universities and degree 
granting colleges. Their 1921 summer enrollment was 143,154, as compared 
with 111,617 in 1920. The gain of 31,537 is 28 per cent. This 28 per cent 
gain is the more striking when compared with the 3 per cent loss in the enroll- 
ment of full time regular students in 1920-21 as compared with 1919-20 in the 
30 American Universities annually considered in School and Society, the en- 
rollments of these 30 being 135,895 for 1919-20 and 132,091 for 1920-21. ^ 

Several factors working together in harmony have resulted 
in this remarkable attendance on the part of teachers in the various 
summer sessions of the nation. The two chief factors on the 
material side are, first, that the regular year of the teachers in which 
they must be present and active in their teaching positions corre- 
sponds very generally with the working year of the colleges and 
universities. This correspondence means that the teachers are 
professionally employed during the same period that the colleges, 
universities, and teachers' colleges are employed in serving their 
primary pre-professional and academic ends; while the traditional 
vacation period of the teachers coincides very closely with the 
traditional vacation periods of the institutions. The second chief 
factor is that during the traditional vacation periods prior to the 
era of the summer session all of the institutional plants were idle. 
From the economic standpoint this had been a great waste. When, 
therefore, the greater utilization of the institutional plants on the 
one hand and the more continuous service of the faculties on the 
other were possible through summer courses offered by colleges 
and universities, both were very desirable innovations from the 
institutional point of view. It was entirely logical that these 
summer sessions should serve in a large measure the elementary 
and high school teachers, because the teaching profession as a body 
was the only large professional group of individuals that was free 
at that time to avail itself of the summer session opportunities. 
A further factor needs to be mentioned, for without it the present 
high attendance at summer sessions would be practically impos- 
sible — namely, the increasing ability of the teachers from a financial 
standpoint to pursue the work. 

A further development of the university extension movement) 
and one that traces its beginnings as well to the normal school de- 
velopment, is the establishment, in our larger cities, of colleges of 

^Walters, Raymond, Journal of the National Education Association, Washington, D. C, Vol. 
XI, No. 1, Jan. 1922, p. 12. 



Historical Development 11 

education, either in connection with the local tax-supported univer- 
sities or growing out of the activities of the local city training 
school for teachers, which offer to teachers while in service educa- 
tional opportunities for improvement in their work during the period 
when the schools are in session. The factors that have led to this 
development are first, the short school day, and second, the short 
school week. Classes at the local institutions are given in the late 
afternoons, in the evenings, and on Saturday mornings, when teach- 
ers are free to take them. St. Louis established, in 1904, the 
Harris Teachers' College. In connection with its municipal uni- 
versity, in 1905, Cincinnati established a College of Education 
which serves the needs of the teachers of that city. The College 
of Education of the University of the City of Toledo, another 
locally tax-supported institution, was established in 1916, and a 
recent addition was the extension of the Detroit Training School 
for Teachers into a four-year teachers' college, in 1920. 

Another phase of this same development is the work offered 
by local institutions, not mimicipally controlled or supported, and 
not directly under the control of the board of education. They 
offer both academic and professional work for the teachers of the 
local district in their colleges or departments of education. The 
teachers in Buffalo are enabled to take professional work in the 
University of Buffalo or in Canisius College,^ and there has just 
recently been developed a plan for cooperative effort between the 
Board of Education of Cleveland and Western Reserve University.'^ 

In the chapter which immediately follows, a very chaotic 
condition in the present character of the work offered to teachers 
while in service may be noted. Many different agencies have 
developed to do the same sort of work for teachers. Certain 
agencies attempt to do a great many different things. Improve- 
ment is recognized in many different ways, and takes many different 
forms. Agencies under the same title have developed in different 
localities in very different ways. In some cases the use of the 
same agency is voluntary and in others compulsory. In spite of 
these incongruities it is evident that the improvement of teachers 
while in service is one of the very active interests of our present-day 

^See page 80. 

^The Professional Education of Teachers in Cleveland, Western Reserve University Bulletin, 

West. Reserve Univ., Cleveland, Ohio, Vol. XXV, No. 3, March, 1922. 



12 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

education. The multiplicity of agencies, and the demands of 
teachers, require that if the efforts that are being made shall result 
in definite progress, the fundamentals of the improvement of 
teachers should be recognized, and definite steps taken to provide 
for teachers the systematic and progressive satisfaction of their 
needs. 

Economically the progressive and orderly improvement of 
our teachers is of the highest importance. The problems of the 
retarded children of our elementary schools, of the children who 
should be accelerated and are not, the means of developing higher 
teaching efficiency in young teachers, and of maintaining that high 
efficiency in older teachers, are all definitely correlated with the 
problems of teacher improvement. The cost of the re-education 
of children who have been badly taught, and of the needless efforts 
spent on children who should be advanced more rapidly, might 
well be diverted to the improvement of teachers. With teachers 
better qualified for their work — better able to teach their children — 
many of these difficulties would probably be eliminated, and from 
such a situation would result untold cumulative benefits to the 
nation in the development of a more intelligent, better educated, 
more highly qualified generation of citizens. 

The purpose of this study is, first, to discover the agencies 
which are concerned with the improvement of the elementary 
school teacher of our city public schools and are at work at the 
present time, secondly, to develop the fundamentals of improve- 
ment of teachers while in service, by which the value of these 
agencies may be judged, and thirdly, to build up, in the light of 
these fundamentals, a constructive scheme of improvement for 
the elementary school teachers in service in a city. 



CHAPTER II 

THE CHARACTER OF PRESENT-DAY 
AGENCIES 

The data contained in this chapter have been obtained mainly 
from the reports of superintendents of the schools, for the years 
1911-1920, in cities which in the 1920 Census of the United States 
were reported as having populations of 20,000 inhabitants or more. 
Reports from other years earlier or later than these were consulted 
in many cases. In a few cases some of these data are included. 
Seven hundred seventy-eight reports from one hundred ninety- 
seven different cities were carefully read for evidence as to the 
work done by or for teachers in service. Data were obtained 
from one hundred nineteen of these cities. Other authorities 
have been consulted, including educational journals, reports of 
colleges and universities, and normal schools, and in a few cases 
certain cities were visited in order to become more familiar with the 
prevailing conditions. 

The data thus obtained were classified according to the type 
of agencies operating, and the following organization has been 
adopted to show in a qualitative form the character of the agencies 
found to be at work. It was found that all of the agencies could 
be conveniently included under the five headings given; (1) Ex- 
tension Activities; (2) Teachers' Meetings; (3) Devices; (4) Pro- 
fessional Supervision; and (5) Work with New Teachers. The 
following pages do not contain all the data that were obtained, nor 
do they presume to contain all of the agencies at work in this 
country. They do contain a qualitative characterization, however, 
of all the agencies contained in the original data. The places and 
examples given are cited as illustrative merely of the character of 
agency in question and do not pretend to include aU of the 
cities which have similar agencies at work. The headings and 
sub-headings of the outline serve to explain the method of 
organization. 



14 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

I. EXTENSION ACTIVITIES 

(I) UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE EXTENSION 
1. At the Institution 

In most cases where the reports of superintendents mentioned 
the teacher as taking work at institutions the work mentioned was 
of professional rather than academic character. As will be seen 
in a few cases given below, however, even those institutions cited 
which offer professional study may offer a certain amount of 
academic study at the same time and on an equal footing with the 
professional study which they offer. 

(1) ACADEMIC TYPE OF WORK. 

As an example of this type of work Cedar Rapids reports the 
maintenance of, 

relations with Coe College [an academic institution] by which the teachers 
have received the benefits of courses of lectures given by men of promi- 
nence in the work of education. (Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1913-14, p. 39).^ 

(2) PROFESSIONAL TYPE OF WORK. 

There are several outstanding plans in various cities, which 
illustrate this especially well. The four plans citied as examples 
illustrate four different plans of organization and administration 
of the work and four different types of control. 

St. Louis Plan. 

Through the medium of a State Teachers' College located in 
the city and closely connected administratively with the city 
school system, which it is primarily designed to serve, the teachers 
of St. Louis are enabled to pursue courses during the winter 
months, as well as in the summer, toward a degree. 

One of the most inspiring chapters in St. Louis educational history con- 
cerns itself with the enthusiasm with which teachers have availed themselves 
of these courses, and now that a plan has been outlined whereby tangible means 
of progress are evident both in the opportunity for wider service in the schools 
and in the direction of a degree, this has been one of the strongest factors in 
inducing teachers to plan their work, to work consistently for credit, and to 
persist in the classes to the end. Credits earned at other colleges and at uni- 

*See Bibliography of City Reports, p. 135. 



Present-Day Agencies 15 

versities may be entered upon the college records, and be counted toward a 
degree. This makes it possible for more teachers to have additional training 
and to enjoy the inspiring and rejuvenating effect of working out common 
problems with fellow workers.^ 

The courses that are taken may be grouped in the following 
way. 

Teachers who desire to do so may pursue courses leading to the A. B. 
Degree in Education with special emphasis upon any of the following subjects: 

(1) the teaching and the supervision of such special subjects as drawing, music, 
physical education, household arts, etc., in the elementary and high schools; 

(2) the teaching and supervision of the primary grades; (3) the teaching of 
elementary and secondary mathematical, physical, biological, and general 
sciences; (4) the teaching of history and of English in the elementary and high 
schools; (5) elementary school supervision and administration; (6) departmen- 
tal teaching in the upper grades; (7) the teaching in ungraded rooms and in 
special schools for feeble-minded, anaemic, pre-tubercuiar, deaf, speech- 
defective, and backward children; (8) psychology and the social sciences.* 

A unique device mentioned in the first of these citations has 
developed in St. Louis and is known as the ''six-year plan.^^ A his- 
tory of the development of this plan is given as follows. 

The work of the William Torrey Harris Teachers' College, for teachers al- 
ready in service, has had a most significant development. In 1908 summer 
extension courses had been established and over 300 principals and teachers 
were enrolled. This important work has been continued. The greatest ex- 
pansion however has been in the winter extension courses. These had been 
inaugurated during Dr. Soldan's administration and were enrolling approxi- 
mately 500 teachers when Mr. Blewett came into the superintendency. The 
nimaber enrolled increased, however, until in the year 1916-17, 1,018 individ- 
uals were taking one or more courses. 

With this increased attendance came greater differentiation and increased 
numbers of courses. The history of the enrollment in these various courses 
provided for organizing them into a scheme involving offerings of courses for 
a period of six years in 1916-17. By this means teachers have been enabled 
to lay out a complete course for the A. B. Degree. As a result the extension 
work of the College has grown not only in numbers enrolled but in a continuity 
and purpose which have made the extension work an integral part of the ser- 
vice of the College to the schools of the city. (St. Louis, Mo., (1.) 1916-17, 
p. 67.) 

The character of this plan is described in the same report. 

The purpose of the six-year plan indicated in the Public School Messenger 
of October, 1916, is intended to encourage all teachers by indicating a number 

^Public School Messenger, St. Louis, Vol. XVIII, No. 2, January 1920, p. 17. 
*/6»d., p. 18. 



16 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

of years in advance the number and character of courses that will be given and 
thus make it possible for a teacher to plan her work some years in advance with 
the hope of being able to realize her plan without losing her salary or her 
position. (St. Louis, Mo., (3) 1916-17, p. 149.) 

As two extreme examples of a large number of courses that 
were offered to the St. Louis teachers in 1920, the following are 
cited. 

Philosophy cf Bergson. 

Questions such as the following will be discussed: How does the philoso- 
phy of Bergson differ from both Realism and Idealism? What is its practical 
contribution? Why have workers in such separate fields as science and religion 
found great inspiration in it? The readings are in "Matter and Memory" and 
"Creative Evolution." ^ 

The Motivation of Geography Through Materials of St. Louis Area. 

There is practically no topic in physical or economic geography that is not 
represented in whole or in part in the St. Louis area, and good teaching re- 
quires an acquaintance with this material. The course includes field trips in 
physical and economic geography, supplemented with library readings. A 
detailed study of type industries is made from the standpoint of motivation 
material involved.* 

The Cincinnati Plan, 
In Cincinnati, Ohio, work for teachers in service is offered by 
a College for Teachers closely aflSliated with the public school 
system and an integral part of the municipal University of Cincin- 
nati. The character of the agency is described as follows: 

The College for Teachers . . . also aids systematically in the im~ 
portant work of improving teachers already in service by offering annually in 
late afternoon and Saturday hours collegiate courses and seminars in educa- 
tion ; for example in 1912 twelve such courses were offered. Many other courses 
especially for teachers are offered by members of the departments in the 
College of Liberal Arts; by the instructors in the Cincinnati Kindergarten 
Training School, which is organically aflSliated with the University; by in- 
structors in the Art Academy of Cincinnati, and by special supervisors of the 
Cincinnati Public Schools. (Cincinnati, Ohio, (1) 1914, p. 106.) 

The way in which work is carried out is described by Dean 
W. P. Burris as follows: 

This phase of the work of the college [the improvement of the teachers in 
service] received added attention the past year and you have already taken 

^Public School Messenger, St. Louis, p. 57. 
*/btd. p. 40. 



Present-Day Agencies 17 

steps which will insure a higher standard in much of the work done by teachers 
and offered for "professional credit." In accordance with such steps all 
courses offered for such credit will hereafter be subject to the scrutiny and 
recommendation of a committee consisting of the professors of education in 
the college and the assistant superintendents of schools, the Dean of the college 
acting as chairman. 

At the beginning of the school year I prepared an announcement of all 
courses given at the University and elsewhere in the city in the late afternoons, 
evenings and on Saturdays, which are open to teachers. This announcement 
was published in the School Index with an introduction by you stating the con- 
ditions under which credit would be allowed. These conditions were also 
embodied in circulars sent out from my office to all persons conducting such 
courses, and reports from them were collected by me upon blanks provided for 
that purpose and forwarded to you after a careful checking of the same. Ac- 
companying these reports was a tabulated exhibit showing the subjects of the 
various courses taken, the time given to each, by whom conducted, and the 
enrollment. (Cincinnati, Ohio, 1916, pp. 112-113.) 

The Detroit Plan. 

The development of the Detroit Teachers College is described 
in a recent number of the Detroit Educational Bulletin. 

Detroit Teachers' College is an integral part of the city school system, 
operating under the direct control of the superintendent and in closest co- 
operation with other educational divisions. It was established in September, 
1920, and replaced the normal school which had been operated by the city for 
many years. 

The special function of Teachers' College is teacher training, broadly 
conceived. The continued training of teachers in service, the supervision and 
training of probationary teachers, and the making of new teachers are the 
three major divisions of its teacher training activities, while the fact that the 
Dean of Teachers' College is also the Director of Instruction, Teacher Training 
and Research shows how closely the work of the college is related to supervision 
and the direction of teaching on the one hand and to the measurement and re- 
search activities on the other. 

The training of teachers in service is achieved mainly through afternoon, 
evening and Saturday classes, and by personal conference between faculty 
members and members of the teaching corps working upon special problems. 
During the winter of 1920-21, 2,500 teachers from the public, private and 
parochial schools of the city were enrolled in such classes, while during the 
six weeks' summer session in 1921, 1,200 were in attendance. The interest 
and enthusiasm which prompt such study and experimentation play a vital 
part in making possible the Detroit program of progress. Accordingly the 
college considers this division of its work of major importance. ^ 

^Detroit Educational BuUetin, Detroit, Mich., Vol. 5, Special No. 2, October 1921, p. 3 



18 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

The work offered by the Detroit Teachers' College is a four- 
year curriculum. 

The first two years qualify the student to receive a Michigan State Life 
Certificate to teach in the elementary grades; the second two years prepare for 
the teaching of special subjects in the elementary or intermediate schools.^ 

To be accepted as a candidate for a degree, a student (1) must be in good 
physical health, (2) must have a score in a standard intelligence test exceeding 
that of the lower 25% of second year students, exception will be made in 
favor of those of lower score when their marks in all the courses that have been 
taken are uniformly of average grade or better, and (3) must choose a field 
of major interest about which to organize his work. This election may be 
any one of the following: 

1. Physical Education 8. Music 

2. Kindergarten and Primary Grades 9. Art 

3. EngUsh 10. Nature Study 

4. Mathematics 11. Auditorium 

5. Language 12. Special Education 

6. History 13. Library 

7. Geography 14. Administration 

There are five main lines of development represented in the standard 
curriculum, the personal, the cultural, the professional, the technical, and the 
practical. . . . 

Personal Development. 

[Note. The discussions under these heads are very interesting. For 
the details the reader is referred to the original.] 

Under this head are listed the possibilities of a teacher's develop- 
ment and in this field there are given in parentheses the catalogue 
nimibers of the courses that are offered which meet the require- 
ments. Some of the needs are ' 'personal standards of health and 
efficiency," ability to ''speak and write correct English," how to 
"spend, save, and invest his salary," and how to apply "the essen- 
tial laws of nutrition" and "exercise." (p. 3) 

Cultural Development. 

The needs here are in few cases "a good general knowledge of 
the principles of music and art," to be "thoroughly scientific in . . 
. attitudes and modes of thinking," and a "study of the struc- 
ture and functions of society." 

^ Requirements ) or aBachelor's Degree, Bd. of Ed., Detroit, Mich., October, 1921, p. 1. 



Present-Day Agencies 19 

Professional Training. 

A teacher must have something more than a narrow vocational training. 
Even professional skill must rest upon a broad foundation of general or theoret- 
ical work. For instance, a teacher needs to study the nature of a teacher's 
work . . . , to know the structure and functions of a school system as a whole 

. . . , and to master the general content and organization of the curriculum. 

. . . He needs also to know the story of the evolution of present day institu- 
tions and practices . . . and the significance of education as a social activity. 

. . . Finally, he should know the history and organization of his special 
department . , . , its special content . . . , and its special methods. . . . 

Technical Training. 

What is here advocated is "actual practice in measuring chil- 
dren physically, mentally, and educationally," ''training in experi- 
mental methods," specific review of '' the methods of work in the 
primary grades . . . , and the subject matter of the two import- 
ant subjects of the elementary grades, arithmetic .... and 
geography . . . ." 

Practice Courses. 

In the case of this teachers' college the courses given in the ''even- 
ing sessions" parallel in large measure the courses in the "standard 
curriculum" and in the above bulletin two pages are given to 
listing the numbers of the evening session courses and the "Nearest 
Standard Course."' 

The Toledo Plan. 

Toledo, Ohio, maintains a municipal University, one of the 
colleges of which is a College of Education. The University, at 
the present writing, has no afl&liation with the public schools of the 
city. There are, however, offered at the University, in the late 
afternoons and on Saturday mornings, as well as in the summer 
sessions, courses designed especially for the teachers of the city 
and the surrounding districts. Many teachers take advantage of 
the opportunities thus offered and register not only for these 
courses, but also for courses offered in the other colleges, es- 
pecially those in the College of Arts and Sciences. The Uni- 
versity allows credit, the amount varying with the individual 
and based on the character of his preparation for teaching, for 

^Ibid., pp. 3-7 inc. 



20 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

the Normal School training of the teachers, and upon the sat- 
isfactory completion of its standard requirements grants a degree 
of Bachelor of Science of Elementary Education. 

2. Courses Outside of Institution. 

(l) by collegiate instructors. 

(a) Academic Type. 

The Extension courses given to teachers in Atlantic City 
illustrate this type of course. 

. . . many [teachers] expressed a desire to do professional work during 
the present school year, and accordingly, classes were organized as follows: 

Course No. I — Fifteen lectures. "The Economic History of the United 
States."— Prof. T. W. Van Metre. [Outline of the course follows.] Twenty- 
five teachers took this course. 

Course No. II — Twelve lectures. "The History of English Literature." — 
Prof. Wm. P. Harbison. [Outline of the course follows.] Twenty-six teachers 
took this course. (Atlantic City, N. J., 1916, p. 20.) 

A second type is illustrated in Jersey City. 

Last year, through the interest of Dr. James E. Egbert, Director of the 
Extension Department of Columbia University, and formerly a member of the 
Board of Education of this city, a number of University courses were given 
under the auspices of Columbia University in the Wm. L. Dickenson High 
School. Those [teachers] who took these courses, not only found it easy to 
engage in personal study but if they desired received appropriate credit toward 
academic degrees. (Jersey City, N. J., 1913-14, p. 74.) 

An elaboration of this is reported from Indianapolis. 

During the year of 1915-16, 327 teachers [out of a total of 
elementary and high school teachers of 1197 (See p. 26 ibid)] 
were enrolled, 

chiefly in courses given by Butler College and Indiana University. Classes 
were organized in the following subjects: Enghsh Novel, Nature Study, 
Social Ethics, Industrial Relations, Current Political and Social Problems, 
Civic Study and Discussion, the Voice in Education and English Poetry. 
For the years 1916-17 some additions have been made, particularly in Educa- 
tional Measurements, Preventive Medicine, Oral English, United States 
History, Latin-American History and Social Service in Europe since 1643. 
(Indianapolis, Ind., 1916, p. 33.) 



Present-Day Agencies 21 

(6) Professional Type. 
Teachers College, Columbia University reports as follows: 

During the first semester of 1921-1922, nineteen extramural classes were 
conducted by members of the staff of Teachers College. Thirteen different 
subjects were included, and twenty-six instructors took part, all but two of 
whom are on regular assignment in Teachers College and seventeen of whom 
are of professorial rank. The titles of the courses were as follows : 

Elements of Psychology for Teachers' Organization and Methods of Teach- 
ing in Lower Primary 

The Teaching of English in the Grammar Grades 

Geography for Teachers 

Industrial Arts for the Elementary Grades 

The Principles and Practice of Teaching in the Elementary School 

The Principles of Teaching 

The Supervision of Teaching 

The Project Method applied to Education 

A Historical Study of Problems of Teaching Method 

The Psychology and Treatment of Exceptional Children 

Problems of the Curriculum 

Measurement and Experimentation in Elementary Education 

The total enrollment of students was 1,680. The classes were conducted 
in the following cities: Yonkers, N. Y. ; Hackensack, Perth Amboy, Bernards- 
ville and Trenton, N. J. ; Philadelphia, Scran ton and East Stroudsburg, Pa. ; 
Washington, D. C; Bridgeport, Stratford, Danbury and Meriden, Conn.; 
Brockton, Haverhill and Quincy, Mass. 

The number of classes in progress during the second semester will be 
somewhat smaller than that during the first semester, but even so, the resources 
of the College will be taxed to accommodate them. According to the rule under 
which extramural courses are being conducted, no instructor giving full time 
to classes in Teachers College may conduct more than one extramural course 
in any given year. 

As will be seen from the above list of courses, those dealing with methods 
of teaching are at present most popular. One of the most successful classes, 
however, during the first semester pursued a three-point course in Measure- 
ment and Experimentation in Elementary Education. A class of more than 
one hundred priccipals in Philadelphia is pursuing the subject of Supervision 
of Teaching throughout the entire school year. ^ 

(2) BY LOCAL INSTRUCTORS. 

(a) Professional. 

In Trenton, N. J., 

. . . Dr. J. M. McCallie, Principal of the Franklin School and Super^ 
visor of Special Classes, gave a thirty-hour course in Educational Measurement 

^Teaehera CoUege Record, New York, Vol. XXIII, No. 2, March 1922, p. 187. 



22 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

under the auspices of New York University, which was pursued by about twen- 
ty Trenton teachers. (Trenton, N. J., 1918, p. 39.) 

In Scranton, Pa., the report stated that, 

. . . the Superintendent is conducting a semi-monthly course with the 
principals of the elementary schools. Several colleges and universities have 
offered to give college or university credit for the successful completion of this 
course. (Scranton, Pa., 1915, p. 10.) 

(II) NORMAL SCHOOL EXTENSION. 

In addition to the normal school extension of the type 
previously cited in St. Louis, which was there cited because of the 
closeness of the character of the work with that of other institutions 
located in cities, the two following cases are illustrative: 

Providence, R. I., reports: 

The Normal School and Brown University not only offer the advantages 
of a general education, but both institutions devote special attention to the 
principles and methods employed in teaching. [This with reference to 
courses given for the improvement of teachers in service.] (Providence, R. I., 
1915-16, p. 58.) 

The extension courses of the Western State Normal School, 
Kalamazoo, Michigan, are open to, 

a. High School graduates with six or more years of successful teaching 
experience who wish to secure Extension Life Certificates. . . . 

h. High School graduates, with or without experience, who wish to earn 
credits to apply on other kinds of life certificates or on the degree. 

c. High School graduates who wish to take work purely for personal 
pleasure and profit with or without credit. 

d. Mature persons who wish to pursue work for pleasure and profit 
with or without credit. ... * 

All instruction in Extension courses is given by members of the regular 
faculty of Western State Normal School. The work takes two forms : 

a. Class work at a strategic center within range of the school which the 
instructor visits at frequent intervals (usually every other week). Most 
classes meet on Saturday. 

6. Carefully organized correspondence courses. Students who elect this 
type of work are directed in their study through outlines and personal letters 
from members of the faculty. 

All subjects offered students in extension work both in class work and by 
correspondence are almost identically equivalent to corresponding subjects 

^\lth Annual Year Book, Western State Normal School, Kalamazoo, Mich., 1921, p. 58. 



Present-Day Agencies 23 

in residence. Each subject is planned to cover eighteen weeks of time; is 
presented to students in nine definite assignments, and counts 12 weeks' 
credit toward a life certificate. Certain courses count toward the degree of 
A. B.^ 

(III) BOARD OF EDUCATION EXTENSION. 

This type partakes closely of the character of the other types 
of extension that have been described. The defining character- 
istics are mainly that it is sponsored by, arranged for, and may be 
supported wholly or in part, by the board of education of a city. 
Two types are here presented. 

Superintendent Dyer, of Boston, Mass., reports: 

The various educational institutions in and around Boston have offered 
and are continuing to offer opportimities for individual students, but in the last 
six years the necessity has been felt of development of opportunities for 
teachers to take improvement and cultural courses in easily accessible school 
buildings, either after school hours or on Saturday mornings. To provide for 
these courses we have secured the cooperation of the Lowell Institute Fund 
in offering courses in school buildings by professors of Harvard and Wellesley, 
and we have also drawn upon our own staff and other institutions in the vicinity 
for instructors in many departments. Most of these courses are absolutely 
free to teachers and others have a fee that is merely nominal. The School 
Committee provides quarters and the Board of Superintendents recognizes the 
courses for promotional credit. [Follows a list of 28 courses for 1917-18.] 

The courses are all well attended. In many cases the attendance is from 
fifty to one hundred. Several of the courses are under the direction of the 
Boston Teachers' Club. Three are state aided, three are provided by the 
Lowell Institute Fund, one by the special class teachers, and one by the 
teachers of children of defective speech. (Boston, Mass., 1917, p. 15.) 

Another form of this extension is illustrated in the work done 

in Lakewood, Ohio. 

For several years past we have been most fortunate in the series of ad- 
dresses to teachers, distributed through the year, as provided by state law, as 
an option instead of the week's Institute in the fall. The past year the high 
standard was maintained in having Professor Henry Turner Bailey deUver a 
series of five addresses on Art. These addresses were so practical in their 
character that they were most helpful and inspiring to all teachers in their 
work. (Lakewood, Ohio, 1918-19, p. 38.) 

(IV) STATE EXTENSION. 

A form of extension work, sponsored by the state is found in 
Massachusetts. Two illustrations will serve to characterize it. 
The first is from Everett. 

*I6td, p. 58. 



24 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

Each year a considerable number of our teachers attend educational 
classes in greater Boston conducted by private enterprises. This year the 
State has offered special opportunities. Eighteen attended lectures on teach- 
ing English to adult foreigners, and ninety-eight have joined the three classes 
that will be conducted in Everett by the Department of University Extension. 
Each gives ten lessons on the topic **How to Study and Teaching How to 
Study." (Everett, Mass., 1918, p. 22.) 

The second illustration comes from Worcester. 

The University Extension Classes under the jurisdiction of the State 
Board of Education have continued along the same Unes as those for last year. 
At present there are two classes in College English, and three classes in Con- 
versational French. Arrangements are completed for a class in Italian and a 
class in Spanish. The University Extension Classes are taken by teachers 
who are anxious to improve themselves and due credit is given for all work 
completed. (Worcester, Mass., 1919, p. 706, (34.) ) 

(V) SUMMER SCHOOLS. 

1. Kinds of Institutions. 

The following are illustrative of the reports that are made 
relative to the character of institutions which teachers are attend- 
ing. They are important in view if the almost universal emphasis 
which is placed on the value of the work to the teacher, or upon 
recognition of the personal sacrifice which the teachers have made 
to take the work. 

(l) UNIVERSITY. 

The following is from Raleigh, N. C: 

The following attended the summer session at Columbia. [Follows seven 
names.] Miss . . . and Miss . . . attended Chicago University. Quite 
a number attended summer schools in this state and in other states. Most of 
these teachers have incurred this expense at a great personal sacrifice. (Ra- 
leigh, N. C, 1915-16, p. 10.) 

Cleveland reports as follows: 

The first term of the Cleveland School of Education which was conducted 
last summer by the Board of Education and Western Reserve University at 
the Normal School and the University, was so successful that there is no hesi- 
tancy on the part of anyone concerned to predict a larger school and better 
session next year. More than ten per cent of the e!ementary teachers of 
Cleveland attended. Among these were many principals. It is doubtful if 
any other large city in the country equals this attendance of its teachers at 
summer school. Nor is this all. Many other Cleveland teachers attended 



Present-Day Agencies 25 

summer sessions in more distant institutions. Thirty-seven attended Colum- 
bia University alone. (Cleveland, Ohio, 1915-16, p. 50) 

The following is reported from Salt Lake City: 

Not a few teachers use their long vacation to take courses in the summe^ 
schools of the various universities of the nation. (Salt Lake City, Utah, 1916? 
p. 139.) 

(2) COLLEGES. 

Brockton, Mass., reports: 

It is with pride we state that in a teaching force of approximately 350 last 
year 179, or more than 50%, took courses to improve themselves professionally 
Fifty-nine teachers pursued summer courses at college sand normal schools 
at considerable expense to themselves. (Brockton, Mass., 1919, p. 23.) 

The following is from Trenton, N. J. : 

A large number of teachers also attended Summer Schools at Ocean City* 
Rutgers College, University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University. The 
enthusiasm- shown by the teachers in continuing their professional training is 
most commendable. (Trenton, N. J., 1915, p. 35.) 

(3) NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

Detroit reports as follows: 

Teachers in service need training no less than beginners, and through 
evening classes for teachers, suromer session connections with state normal 
schools and with the University, the work of the Normal School has been 
broadened and widened until a Teachers' College was estabUshed by the Board 
of Education this spring. (Detroit, Mich., 1920, p. 42.) 

Memphis reports as follows : 

September, 1912, the West Tennessee State Normal, located at Memphis^ 
opened very auspiciously. . . . Fifty Memphis teachers and aids are already 
avaiUng themselves of the summer term of the Normal. (Memphis, Tenn., 
1912-13, p. 74.) 

(4) CITY OR COUNTY TRAINING SCHOOLS. 

Kansas City, Mo., reports as follows: 

A second important function of the City Training School should be that 
of providing a direct means for the professional improvement of teachers in 
service. Such work was started during the year 1916-17 in the provision of a 
six weeks summer school which was held from June 12th to July 21st. In all 
there were enrolled for this work three hundred white teachers and fifty 



26 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

colored teachers, with an average daily attendance above three hundred and 
forty. Twenty-three courses were ofifered. (Kansas City, Mo., 1917, p. 70.) 

The following comes from Richmond, Va. : 

A summer school for teachers was also conducted in this city. This was 
the fourth session of the Richmond City Normal School summer session. The 
total number of teachers registered was 243 of whom 77 were from Richmond. 
(Richmond, Va., (1) 1917, p. 17.) 

2. Recognition of Summer School Work. 

(1) BONUS. 

The bonus is a sum of money given to a teacher for having 
attended a summer school. It is given for the year only in which 
the work is taken, and after the work has been satisfactorily com- 
pleted. The two types of bonus in Auburn, N. Y., and Rochester, 
N. Y., are illustrative. 

Auburn, N. Y., reports: 

The provision in the rules adopted by the Board in March, 1918, granting 
a bonus of $50 to every teacher who should pursue a course of professional 
study satisfactory to the Superintendent, is beginning to bear abundant fruit. 
During the summer of 1918 only one teacher availed herself of the opportunity 
offered. During the summer of 1919, however, twenty-six teachers attended 
summer schools . . . (Auburn, N. Y., 1918-19, p. 23.) 

The rules in Rochester are as follows: 

Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent and the approval of 
the Board of Education, the following recognition is given to all regularly ap- 
pointed teachers, principals, and supervisors who pursue courses in summer 
schools. 

First. For the single year following such work the sum of $50 is added to 
the salary of any teacher, principal or supervisor who pursues courses in insti- 
tutions outside of the City of Rochester. 

Second. For the single year following such work a sum equal to the 
tuition but in [no] case to exceed $25 is added to the salary of any teacher, 
principal or supervisor who pursues courses in an institution within the city. 

The institution and the courses therein are to be approved by the Super- 
intendent of Schools. Adopted June 30, 1913.^ 

(2) SCHOLARSHIP OR SUBSIDY. 

These are sums of money given to teachers under varying 
conditions to enable them to take work in summer sessions. 

^Bulletin of General Information, Rochester, N. Y'., November 1915, p. 36. 



Present-Day Agencies 27 

(a) The Indianapolis Plan. 

The public-school system of Indianapolis has a scholarship fund, whose 
income is devoted to advanced professional training of a limited number of 
teachers each year. The conditions under which the scholarships are con- 
ferred are as follows: 

Only teachers who have had at least three years of successful experience 
in the pubUc schools of Indianapolis are entitled to such scholarships, and no 
person is entitled to more than one in any one year nor more than two in suc- 
cessive years. 

Teachers who receive and accept the Gregg Scholarships enter into a con- 
tract provided by the Board of School Commissioners in order that Indianap- 
ohs public schools may receive the benefit of the special training given. 
Beneficiaries must return to Indianapolis and teach in the public schools for 
a specified number of years agreed upon (from one to five years in proportion 
to the size of the scholarship). They are not entitled to any advantage as to 
position or salary, but are in all things subject to the rules of the board for 
their appointments and salaries when they return. 



The first scholarships were granted in 1894. Since that time about 200 
have been given. The sums have varied from $25 to $1,000. They range 
from a three or six weeks' summer term in a university or school of education 
to five months during the regular school year. Three teachers have each been 
given a year's scholarship . 

The Gregg Fund is the outcome of Iowa lands bequeathed to the school 
city of IndianapoUs by a pioneer teacher, Mr. Thomas D. Gregg, who died in 
1876. 



The net returns of this bequest were $12,850 . . . The plan has 
worked admirably and great good has come to the schools by virtue of this 
modest bequest which has now accimiulated to a sum of $37,500. Eight or 
ten teachers are annually benefited by the interest from this fund. ^ 

(6) The Toledo Plan. 

A number of scholarships given by a private donor and known 
as the Libby Scholarships are awarded yearly in Toledo, Ohio, to 
fifteen teachers in the city schools for the purpose of summer study 
at colleges or universities. The amount of each scholarship is $150. 

(c) The Pittsburgh Plan. 

Pittsburgh has a fund of $250,000, donated by Henry Clay 
Frick, the income from which is used for the improvement of the 
work of the teachers in the public schools of Pittsburgh. The 
yearly income amounts to $12,500. 

^Blaich, L. R., The Gregg Scholarships of the Indianapolis Public Schools, The Elementary 
School Teacher, Vol. 12, 1912, pp. 460-462. 



28 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

This has been expended by the Commission, [appointed to handle the fimd] 
in the purchase of summer school scholarships in the leading colleges and imi- 
versities of the country. In June of each year, it has been the custom of the 
Commission to award these scholarships to the teachers elected to receive them. 
Each scholarship has carried with it an amount sufficient to pay the tuition of 
the teacher, and at the same time, to meet, in whole or in part, all the expenses 
connected with her summer school attendance. (Pittsburgh, Pa., 1916, p. 23.) 

(3) CREDIT TOWARD SALARY INCREASE. 

Wichita, Kansas, reports: 

. . . the Board of Education in May offered to raise five dollars per 
month the salary of every teacher who would accomplish three semester hours 
of work in an accredited summer school. As a result of this resolution and the 
general desire for professional improvement there are now in scattered summer 
schools about seventy-five or eighty teachers — over one-fourth of the teaching 
force. (Wichita, Kan., 1912-13, p. 23.) 

In this connection see also, in a later section (pp. 50-53) the 
salary schedules of Beverly, Mass., and Cincinnati, Ohio. 

The Elementary School Journal reports a recent study in this 
connection as follows: 

The Grade Teachers' Association of Minneapolis has published a pamphlet 
written by Miss Clara Langwick and entitled "The Growth of Teachers in 
Service." This pamphlet publishes the results of an inquiry addressed to the 
State Department of Education and to three hundred city-school systems. 
The questions asked are as follows : 

Does your city pay expenses of teachers while attending summer 
school? 

What amount is allowed each? 
Is it given as a bonus? 
As a raise in salary? 
How much do you allow for travel? 

How many teachers attended school during the summer of 1918, 
1919, 1920? 

How many teachers do you employ? 

Do you provide a sabbatical vacation for your teachers on full pay? 
Half? Part? 

There were eight states which made an affirmative report. The details 
of their statements are as follows: 

Delaware — SlOO is granted as a bonus. 
Maryland — S25 is granted as a bonus. 

New Mexico — Cost of transportation to the school and return is paid. 
Connecticut — Books, supplies and instruction are provided free of 
cost. 



Present-Day Agencies 29 

Rhode Island — The state conducts a summer school and offers free 
tuition. Mileage is paid for normal school students in regular courses. 

Maine — Expenses are paid in the case of one group for special teacher- 
training work. 

North Carolina — If credits are earned, the teachers receive a raise 
in salary. 

Montana — Each county pays the tuition. State refunds to the 
county all above $50 per teacher. 

In Colorado, Baca County pays its teachers a bonus for attendance 
at the normal institute. 

Of the 300 school systems addressed, 203 repUed. In 131 no rewards are 
offered to teachers. From 72 an affirmative reply was received. . . . 
The author's general conclusion is as follows: 

"From the above facts it is reasonably fair to assume that approxi- 
mately one-third of the cities in the United States offer some reward to 
teachers who are willing to make a real effort to enlarge their professional 
equipment by study or travel or the equivalent of these. The cities that 
are doing something in this line belong to no particular population group 
and to no one part of the country, all parts of the country and cities of all 
sizes being represented. . . . 

"in most cases the reward is in addition to all other remuneration, 
though in some cases it is only the normal salary increase and refused to 
all who do not meet certain conditions. In other words, the plan seems 
to be to penalize those who do not show progress rather than to reward 
those who do show progress."^ 

(VI) TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION EXTENSION. 

Stamford, Connecticut reports as follows: 

The Stamford Teachers' Association Extension Courses for Teachers. 
The Stamford Teachers' Association continued its custom of providing for 
extension courses, and the following were given here last winter. [Follows a 
list of the courses.] (Stamford, Conn., 1917, p. 16.) 

Brookline, Massachusetts reports as follows: 

Early in the year the Teachers' Club engaged Dr. S. S. Colvin to deliver a 
series of lectures on Group Intelligence Tests. (BrookUne, Mass., 1920, p. 390.) 

(VII) CORRESPONDENCE EXTENSION. 

In addition to the mention of correspondence courses in con- 
nection with the Western State Normal School at Kalamazoo, 
Mich., the following reference is illustrative. It is highly probable 
that correspondence extension is far more important with teachers 

^ The Elementary SchoolJournal, University of Chicago, Chicago, 111., Vol. XXII, No, 7, March, 
1922, pp. 483-485. 



30 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

outside of these larger cities consulted, than it is here reported in 
them. The following is typical of the casual form of report. 

For several years many of our teachers, even without prospects of im- 
mediate financial return, have been taking extension courses, both in residence 
and by correspondence. (Harrisburg, Pa., 1920, p. 19.) 

(VIII) STUDY GROUPS. 

Wheeling, West Virginia, reports that some of its teachers are 

enrolled in private classes which have set for themselves the study of some 
special subject in language, literature or art. (Wheeling, W. Va., 1908, 
pp. 28-29.) 

(IX) SPECIAL SUBJECT INSTRUCTION. 

1. New York City Plan. 
Superintendent Maxwell proposed in 1914, 

that a few teachers each term be selected in these special subjects, [singing, 
drawing, sewing, physical training, etc.] relieved from teaching one day a 
week, and sent on that day to the training schools, where they may receive 
special instruction in the department of theory and special practice m the 
model school. Daring their absence from their own schools their places may 
be taken for the day by pupil teachers assigned to practice work by the train- 
ing schools, so that no appropriation will be required to pay substitutes while 
they are away. Already a beginning has been made by assigning ten teachers 
in drawing and ten teachers in physical training to each of the three training 
schools. As these teachers receive their modicum of training they will go back 
to their schools able to do departmental work in their specialties. In such 
schools the services of the special supervisory teachers will no longer be needed 
and they may be gradually assigned to departmental work in the large schools. 
In this way, I believe, our training schools will add very largely to the efficiency 
of the teaching force, and will at the same time, materially reduce the expense 
of administering the schools. (New York City, N. Y., (2) 1914, p. 132.) 

The success of this plan is reported the following year : 

The Training Schools for Teachers continue to render the excellent service 
they have always rendered. Last year they made a long stride in this work by 
giving a special training to class teachers in music, drawing, and physical 
training. This work was commenced some years ago by the Brooklyn Training 
School in giving special training to groups of teachers of mentally deficient 
children. This work proved so satisfactory that it has since been extended to 
class teachers in the subjects mentioned above. The Training School for 
Teachers may easily be made our most efficient means of improving the work 
of the regularly appointed teachers. (New York City, N. Y., 1915, p. 100.) 



Present-Day Agencies 31 

2. Raleigh, N. C, Plan. 

This plan of improvement has a commercial aspect. 

I am glad to commend the spirit of the teachers in the Raleigh Schools. 
Thirty-seven of them have obtained a special certificate of penmanship from 
the A. N. Palmer Company. To merit this certificate requires one year of 
practice in the various drills in the method which we teach to the children. 
At the close of the present year, we hope to be able to report that practically 
all of the teachers are proficient in penmanship. (Raleigh, N. C, 1915-16, 
p. 10.) 

3. Columbia, S. C, Plan. 

Vocal music has been taught in the schools for many years, and although 
one teacher of music has done all the work in this department, with the ex- 
ception of some assistance from a few teachers, the singing of the children 
under her direct instruction in the class-room and in choruses trained by her 
for special occasions, shows that they have received careful instruction. Their 
singing is pleasing and inspiring. 

Doubtless one teacher could have continued to give personal instruction 
to all the pupils in the schools for some years to come and could have secured 
good results, but the annexation of adjoining territory so largely increased the 
work of this department as to make it impossible for one person to teach each 
class-room with sufficient frequency to insure satisfactory progress on the part 
of the pupils. 

In order to relieve the situation, the School Board provided afternoon 
music classes for the teachers, which were taught by the regular music teacher. 
The teachers below the High School were divided into two groups, one com- 
posed of teachers of the Primary grades and the other of teachers of the Inter- 
mediate grades. Each group met twice a month and was in session for one 
hour. Attendance was optional but I am glad to report that, with a few ex- 
ceptions, all the teachers joined these classes and made much progress with 
their music. Within a few years, under the present plan, there seems to be 
no good reason why all the teachers below the High School should not be 
capable of teaching music to pupils. As ability to teach vocal music is now 
required of all teachers in the Elementary schools, a teacher who does not 
attend these classes, unless excused for sufficient reason is losing an oppor- 
tunity to comply with the requirements of the School Board. (Columbia, 
S. C, 1913-14, p. 32.) 

(X) CHAUTAUQUA. 

Beyond casual mention in a few cases, that a teacher or two 
was attending or had attended a Chautauqua meeting, this agency 
does not seem to play any important part among present-day 
agencies. 



32 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

(XI) VACATION SCHOOL. 

Memphis, Tennessee, mentions a 'Vacation school" as a re- 
quirement that ought to be made for weaker teachers in an effort 
to bring them up to standard. (Memphis, Tenn., 1911-12, p. 44.) 

II. TEACHERS^ MEETINGS. 

(I) GENERAL PURPOSES. 

1. To develop teachers to greater efficiency. (Moline, 111., 1916, p .29.) 

2. To help each teacher to render the highest type of teaching service 
of which she is capable. (Duluth, Minn., 1918, p. 3.) 

3. To help her [the teacher] succeed. (Elmira, N. Y., 1915-16, p. 20.) 

4. To keep instruction efficient. (Mt. Vernon, N. Y., 1917, p. 12.) 

5. To facilitate the basic adjustment to each other of the entire teaching 
corps and the supervisory staff. (Topeka, Kan., 1914-15, p. 11.) 

6. . . . inspirational to the teachers as well as helpful to the school 
system in bringing together the various elements of the organization for a 
better acquaintance and understanding of their relations to one another. 
(Muskogee, Okla., 1910-11, p. 19.) 

(II) TYPES OF MEETINGS. 

1 . General Professional Meetings of Teachers. 

These are meetings in which all of the teachers within a 
school system are called to meet together for some specific 
purposes. 

(l) TYPES. 

(a) Attendance may he compulsory y as 
in Canton, Ohio. 

They [the teachers] shall attend all regular and special meetings called 
by the Superintendent of Instruction, the Principals or Supervisors, and no 
excuse for absence shall be allowed other than such as would justify absence 
from a regular session of their schools. (Canton, O., (2) 1911-12, p. 61.) 

(6) Attendance may he voluntary as 

follows: 

Attendance was not compulsory, but was rarely less than one hundred 
per cent of the teachers employed. (Muskogee, Okla., 1910-11, p. 19.) 

(c) The meetings may he regular as im- 
plied above, in Canton, Ohio, or 
as follows: 

During the year general teachers' meetings were held at the Powhatan 
School on the third Thursday in each month. (Richmond, Va., 1915, p. 77.) 



Present-Day Agencies 33 

{d) The meetings may he special, as 
reported in Chester, Pa. 

Special meetings of the teachers for consultation or instruction may be 
called by the Superintendent at any time. (Chester, Pa., 1910-11, p. 36.) 

(2) THESE GENEKAL MEETINGS MAY BE IN 

CHARGE OF VARIOUS INDIVIDUALS OR 

GROUPS. The following are illustrative : 
(a) Superintendent or Supervisors. 

The presentation of lessons planned under the direction of the superin- 
tendent and the discussion of the principles involved, and the methods em- 
ployed have proved a most valuable and interesting featiu-e of the meetings. 
(Bethlehem, Pa., 1915-16, p. 22.) 

(h) Special Committees of Teachers. 
The following is reported from La Crosse, Wisconsin: 

The plan for general teachers' meetings for the year was somewhat 
changed. General teachers' meetings may be of two kinds: first, those in 
which details of administration and general policies of the school system are 
to be presented to teachers; and, second, those which are entirely of an educa- 
tional nature. Believing again that the best results would be obtained from a 
democratic plan of organization, the superintendent appointed a committee 
of about five principals and teachers to plan the program for each meeting 
throughout the year. Each committee accepted its responsibility, and the 
result was a series of A No. 1 meetings wath sufficient variety to interest the 
most fastidious. We hope to enlarge upon the plan the coming year. (La 
Crosse, Wis., 1918, p. 23.) 

The following report from Sheboygan is illuminating in this 
connection : 

The purpose of putting committees in charge of these programs is not to 
relieve the superintendent of work and responsibility but to give a wider scope 
and a broader viewpoint to the subjects taken for discussion. The committees 
may practice the usual latitude in selecting subjects. (Sheboygan, Wis., 
1913-14, pp. 15-16.) 

(3) ACTIVITIES OF THESE MEETINGS. 

(a) Discussion of school subjects. 
There were 

two general meetings of all white teachers, in two separate divisions, dur- 
ing the year for the discussion of arithmetic, geography and reading. (Mem- 
phis, Tenn., 1911-12, p. 36.) 



34 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

(6) Special and general topics. 

The basis for study and discussions in the general meetings was Gilbert's 
"The School and its Life." Outlines of the portions of the text assigned for 
each meeting, giving special and general topics for discussion, were prepared by 
the Superintendent and handed out in advance to the teachers. This assured a 
systematic and careful consideration of the points under discussion and re- 
sulted in much thoughtful investigation. General subjects of local interest 
were also included in the programs. (Muskogee, Okla., 1910-11, p. 19.) 

(c) Outside Speakers. 

At the general meetings of the teachers of the city, addresses were given 
as follows: 

"The Newer Idea of Culture," by the Superintendent. 

"The Junior High School," Dr. Thomas H. Briggs. 

"The Complete School," Dr. H. H. Home. 

"The Use of the Examination," Mr. H. H. Horner. 

"The Work of the Year," by the Superintendent. (Mt. Vernon, 
N. Y., 1916, p. 18.) 

(d) Local Speakers. 

"Virginia's Attitude Towards Slavery and Secession," one of the books 
of the reading course for Virginia teachers, was presented in a series of lectures 
by Mr. J. T. Walker, Principal of Buchanan School. Miss Sarah C. Brooks 
lectured on "Language Teaching in the Grades." Spelling, seat work sugges- 
tions for the 3A — 7B grades, inclusive, teaching current events, phonics, lan- 
guage and reading were discussed. Group teaching and instruction received 
ample share of these deliberations. Mimeographed suggestions were given 
the teachers and a summary of the work of each meeting was put into their 
hands in this form. (Richmond, Va., 1915, p. 77.) 

(e) Book Study. 

The following is illustrative from Manchester, N. H. : 

In our teachers' meetings we have endeavored to consider such books as 
would help us to bring into practice the more recent notions of school room 
procedure. (Manchester, N. H., 1919-20, p. 13.) 

Cranston, R. I., reports the following: 

At the general meetings. Dr. Frank M. McMurry's book on "Elementary 
School Standards," was the basis of our discussions. (Cranston, R. I., 1914, 
p. 9.) 

2. Grade Meetings. 
These consist of meetings of the teachers within a city in 
groups, according to the grades which they teach. These meetings, 



Present-Day Agencies 35 

like those above, may be either regular or special, are usually held 
by the supervisors, and no mention is made as to whether or not 
they are compulsory. 

(l) ACTIVITIES OF THESE MEETINGS. 

(a) Plans for Future Work, 
The two following citations are illustrative of this : 

Frequent grade meetings were also held by the superintendent and super- 
visors. Specific plans for special work were considered at these meetings. 
(Muskogee, Okla., 1910-11, p. 19 £f.) 

Grade meetings are held once each month for consultation and for map- 
ping and planning the work for the next month. (Austin, Tex., 1907, p. 36.) 

(6) Outside Speakers. 

During the year the different grade organizations held bi-monthly meetings. 
In addition to discussions by the teachers of matters pertaining to the regular 
work of the grades, at several of the meetings addresses and talks were given 
by speakers from outside the school system. (Mt. Vernon, N. Y., 1916, p. 18.) 

(c) Discussions of Methods. 

There were five meetings this year. Two of these reviewed the past 
year's meetings and there were three on the "Teaching of Reading in the 
Primary Grades." (Waterbury, Conn., 1918, p. 45.) 

At these meetings, instruction has been given in methods and discipline? 
in matters relating to the course of study, in standard test work, and in all the 
important phases of the work of teaching. (Harrisburg, Pa., 1920, p. 26.) 

Monthly grade meetings are held for the presentation and discussion of 
devices and methods. (Reading, Pa., 1910-11, p. 22.) 

Last year, as in previous years, I met the teachers each month and either 
discussed problems with them or gave demonstration lessons according to their 
wishes. 

These grade meetings have proven to be the most effective means of im- 
proving the teachers in the force. Through them, common purposes and ideals 
are set up, different aspects of the course of study are considered, and a definite 
method of teaching demonstrated. The teachers enter heartily into the meet- 
ings, taking part in the discussions, asking pointed questions, taking notes and 
experimenting, at some later time, in their own class-rooms. Often, the 
teacher who acts as hostess teaches the lesson. Thus, the meetings contrib- 
ute to the development of the teachers' individuality, by stimulating them to 
think and by giving them confidence in their teaching ability. 

Diu*ing the year, the first grade teachers considered the following topics: 
(1) Nature Study; (2) Beginning Number; (3) Industrial Education; (4) 
Phonics; (5) Language; and (6) Number. The second grade teachers con- 



36 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

sidered the following topics: (1) Nature Study; (2) Industrial Education; 
(3) Language; (4) Phonics. (Richmond, Va., (2) 1917, p. 95.) 

{d) Demonstration Lessons. 

In addition to the mention of demonstration lessons made 
above a further type is illustrated in Cleveland. 

. . . here and there was found a teacher who was doing such splendid 
work that it was arranged to have what were called demonstration lessons. 
All the teachers of a particular grade would come together and witness lessons 
that would illustrate how our standards for class-room work were being carried 
out. (Cleveland, Ohio, (2) 1914-15, p. 21.) 

(e) Special Type. 

An interesting variation is reported from Wichita, Kan. : 

In addition to college and normal school courses the local teachers' asso- 
ciation has provided a round-table for the teachers of each grade in the ele- 
mentary school. These teachers have their meetings immediately after their 
regular grade meetings with the superintendent. Vital points in the course of 
study are discussed and plans are suggested for getting the best results in the 
class-room. Such meetings have proved of great value to all. (Wichita, Kan., 
1913-14, p. 26.) 

3. Building Meetings. 
These are usually held regularly by the principal of a school 
building for his own teachers. There are two aspects; first, the 
consideration of building routine; and, secondly, the discussion of 
professional subjects. 

(1) BUILDING ROUTINE. 

The principals of the different buildings have frequent conferences with 
teachers to discuss matters of importance to their own schools. (Austin, Tex., 
1907, p. 36.) 

The principals of the various buildings held almost weekly meetings of 
their teachers at which the special problems of administration and discipline 
affecting the respective buildings were considered. (Muskogee, Okla., 1910- 
11, p. 20.) 

(2) PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES. 

(a) Discussion. 

Trenton, N. J., reports: 

All of the schools maintain teachers' meetings; one meeting a month is 
the usual practice, but several schools have held two meetings a month during 
the past year. In schools having many part time classes, meetings had to be 



Present-Day Agencies 37 

held for the second group of teachers. In about two-thirds of the schools the 
meetings were occupied with the discussion of matters pertaining to the re- 
spective schools, but the remaining schools report very interesting and profit- 
able programs used in round-table discussions. (Trenton, N. J., 1916, p. 16.) 

(6) Professional Reading. 
The character of the reading done is somewhat illustrated in 
the citations given below, although in just what the reading con- 
sisted has not been given. 

All the teachers in the service are now pursuing systematically some course 
in professional study and reading, from the high schools down through the 
kindergarten. The meetings in the two high schools and in the elementary 
schools are conducted in each case by the principals, and in the kindergarten 
by the Supervisor of Kindergartens. (Scranton, Pa., 1915, p. 10.) 

Another type is illustrated in Harrisburg, Pa. : 

In this connection it should be stated that practically all teachers in the 
elementary grades who did not identify themselves with the lecture course, 
held meetings in their respective buildings and engaged in some kind of pro- 
fessional reading and study. Twenty-eight meetings were held in the Foose 
Building, eighteen in Willard, seven in Harris, six in MacLay, and weekly 
classes were scheduled in Boas and Fager. Reports from these schools indi- 
cate regularity of attendance and commendable interest on the part of the 
teachers concerned. (Harrisburg, Pa., 1916, p. 17.) 

(c) Special Topics, 

The following report from Denver, Colo., contains many of 
the features given above, and in addition discusses at some length, 
which is only partially quoted here, the advantages which the 
meetings bring. 

There were meetings during the entire year in the Columbian 
School. Twelve to fourteen concerned building routine, and about 
twenty discussed the following: 

1. Class-room Management. 

2. Physical Examinations. 

3. Program Making, 

4. Marking Systems. 

5. Art of Questioning. 

6. Parallel Classes vs. the Coaching System. 

7. Socialized Recitation. 

8. Problem and Project Methods. 

9. Supervised Study. 

10. Educational Measurements. 



38 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

11. Language Games and Oral English. 

12. Professional Ethics. 

13. Influence of War on Education. 

The good results were tabulated as follows : 

1. The sagacious and more experienced teachers explained their 

methods that the young, cranky and unwise ones might be 
benefited. 

2. Visitors came to meetings and gave exchange of ideas. 

3. Specialists became interested in all the work of the school. 

4. Professional ideals were stimulated. 

5. Teachers' outlook was enlarged. 

6. Meetings placed a premium on initiative and originality. 

(Denver, Colo., (1) 1918-19, p. 124 ff.) 

4. Departmental or Group Meetings. 

These are held as a rule by the supervisors or by the superin- 
tendent for the discussion of subjects touching the interests of 
several grades. The following citations serve to characterize them : 

Our grade meetings, departmental meetings, special meetings in such 
subjects as music, penmanship and drawing are held each month and are of 
marked value in the supervision of schools and particularly in the training of 
the younger teachers. (Houston, Tex., 1915-16, pp. 29-30.) 

On Thursday afternoon, December 8, the teachers of grades 1, 2 and 3 
were addressed by Miss Bessie Coleman of New York City, an expert in the 
teaching of reading. (Central Falls, R. I., 1921, p. 36.) 

Departmental meetings in which special subjects touching the work in 
several grades were selected and discussed and numerous conferences in the 
office of the Superintendent with individuals and groups of teachers were held. 
(Muskogee, Okla., 1910-11, p. 20.) 

5. Principals' Meetings. 

These are meetings of the principals of a city, either at regular 
intervals or at special times, as a rule with the superintendent. 
They may be either for the discussion of routine matters or for pur- 
poses of improvement. The following citations are illustrative : 

Topeka, Kansas, reports; 

There are two kinds: 

(1) Routine Matters. 

(2) A few meetings were held each year for the specific purpose of 
promoting advanced professional study. (Topeka, Kan., 1914-15, p. 11.) 



Present-Day Agencies 39 

Utica, New York, uses the meetings for special subject in- 
struction. 

One year ago, beside the regular monthly meetings of Principals with the 
Superintendent, we held several extra meetings on the subject of Reading. 
These were such a marked success, that the past year we have had a series of 
meetings on English. The Superintendent appointed Principals F. W. Trieble, 
Mary L. McKernan and Julia J. Winchenbach as a committee in charge. 
(Utica, N. Y., 1914-15, p. 31.) 

In Harrisburg, Pa., the supervisors cooperate with the super- 
intendent. 

Principals' meetings have been held twice a month, the Superintendent 
and the Supervisor of Advanced Grades alternating in directing these meetings. 
(Harrisburg, Pa., 1920, p. 26.) 

In Dallas, Texas, the meetings are used for special study. 

Each principal has purchased and read with the Superintendent in special 
mid-monthly meetings Holmes' "Study of School Organization and the Indi- 
vidual Child." These studies of the principals of schools on school efficiency 
have exercised a wide felt influence on school room work throughout the 
schools. (Dallas, Tex., 1915, p. 13.) 

6. Teachers^ Associations. 

Of the so-called ''Teachers' Associations" there are at least 
two sorts; (1) Legislative or deliberative State, Territorial, or City 
Associations ; and (2) Local groupings of teachers for specific mut- 
ual piu'poses. 

(l) STATE, TERRITORIAL, OR CITY. (tYPE I.) 

(a) State. 

In November about two hundred of our two hundred sixty-four teachers 
attended the State Teachers' Association in Topeka. (Wichita, Kan., 1912-13, 
p. 22.) 

(6) Territorial. 

The most important educational gathering of the northwest during the 
past year was that of the Inland Empire Teachers' Association which met in 
the Lewis and Clark High School, April 4th, 5th and 6th, 1912. Through this 
meeting, not only the teachers of the Inland Empire but also the citizens of 
Spokane were permitted to hear President G. Stanley Hall of Clark University, 
Dr. A. E. Winship of Boston, and many other leaders of educational thought. 
This meeting vvas attended by upwards of two thousand teachers and others, 
holding paid memberships in the organization. (Spokane, Wash., 1911-12, 
p. 39.) 



40 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

ic) City or Local. 

During the school year 1916-17 the teachers of Jamestown formed an or- 
ganization to be known as the Jamestown New York Teachers' Association. 
Its objects as set forth in the constitution are: 

(a) The promotion among the teachers of the city of a broader and 
deeper knowledge concerning educational theories and current educational 
problems by such means as lectures and discussions and the estabUshment of 
proper relations with other educational bodies as the County and State Teach- 
ers' Associations. 

(6) A study of economic and social conditions as related to the teaching 
profession in order to produce a greater efficiency, a closer acquaintance and a 
stronger bond of sympathy among the teachers of the city. 

(c) The advancement of the cause of education in this community through 
the efforts of the teachers of Jamestown united in an association and zealous 
for promoting progressive educational sentiment and favorable conditions 
for the work of the schools. (Jamestown, N. Y., 1915-18, p. 29.) 

A second type may be seen in the following: 

One hundred per cent of the Springfield teachers belong to the Central 
Ohio Teachers' Association and the last meeting was held in Columbus the 
first Friday and Saturday in November. The Springfield teachers were most 
interested in the reorganization of the State Association on the delegate 
basis, and to amend the constitution of the Association. (Springfield, Ohio, 
1921, p. 72.) 

(2) LOCAL GROUPINGS. (tYPE II.) 

(a) Activities. 

(i) Study Courses. 

About one hundred seventy-five of the grade teachers studied Dr. Mc- 
Murry's **How to Study and Teaching How to Study". (Wichita, Kan., 
1912-13, p. 22.) 

Portland teachers are a hardworking conscientious force. They are eager 
to do their work in the best manner and are anxious to improve. This was 
plainly proven during the past season when the Association arranged for various 
study clubs. The teachers flocked into these clubs and carried their work 
through. The Educational Psychology Club alone enrolled one hundred 
and one [out of] 348. (Portland, Me., 1919, p. 9.) 

(ii) Lecture Courses. 
Isolated Professional Lectures. 

The fourth season of public lectures and meetings of the East Providence 
Teachers' Association was conducted according to the plan of preceding years. 
The Superintendent of Schools, as President of the Association, with the 



Present-Day Agencies 41 

Executive Committee, planned the following series of meetings, lectures and 
concerts, which were received with favor and liberally patronized by the 
teachers and general public. 

[See later section for non-professional meetings here referred to.l 
May 26. Teachers' Conference at the High School. Addresses by Valen- 
tine Almy, Assistant Commissioner of Public Schools of the State of Rhode 
Island, on "The Teacher of Tomorrow," and by Principal John L. Alger of 
the Rhode Island State Normal School on the subject, ''The Teaching of 
Arithmetic." (East Providence, R. L, 1915, p. 36.) 

As a further contribution to the growth of the teachers in service, we have 
been greatly honored in having addresses from Dr. Calvin N. Kendall, Com- 
missioner of Education for the State of New Jersey, on the topics, ''Modern 
Purposes of Education" and "Realizing the Purposes of Education." We were 
also delighted to welcome Dr. J. A. H. Keith, the new principal of the Indiana 
Normal School, who gave a very pleasing address; Professor C. P. Zaner of 
Columbus, Ohio, on Penmanship, and Mrs. Maude Brown Curtis on the sub- 
jects of "Reading" and "Language." The superintendent also had the 
pleasure of speaking to the teachers on the subject of "Reading" just before 
the close of the school year. (Altoona, Pa., 1918, pp. 8-9.) 

Isolated Non-Professional Lectures. 

November 16. Lecture on "Modern Miracles," by Reno B. Welborne, 
Scientist. 

December 14. Reading by Miss Adelaide Patterson, "Disraeli." 

January 11. Illustrated lecture, "South America of Today . . . and 
Tomorrow," by Albert Leonard Squier. 

February 10. Lecture, "What Life Means to Me," by Gertrude Breslaw 
Fuller. 

March 10. Lecture by Irving Bachellor, Author, "The Cheerful Yankee" 
(East Providence, R. I., 1915, p. 36.) 

Non-Professional Series of Lectures or Courses. 

During the year a very successful lecture course of twelve numbers was 
conducted by the teachers in the High School Auditorium. Ten of the lec- 
tures were on Current Events; one was an illustrated lecture, and one was an 
interpretation of the opera Madame Butterfly. (Williamsport, Pa., 1918-19, 
p. 12.) 

The Springfield Teachers' Association again maintained a lecture course. 
The lecturer was Dr. Wilb'am E. Smyzer, Dean of Ohio Wesley an University. 
He took for his general theme, "Present-Day Tendencies in Literature," and 
presented six lectures as follows: First, "A Survey of Current Literature" 
second, "Bernard Shaw and the Shavian Philosophy" ; third, "Arnold Bennett 
and the Triology" ; fourth, "Rudyard Kipling, Teller of Tales" ; fifth, "Present- 
Day Poetry"; and sixth, "Alfred Tennyson and His Pre-Raphaelite Illus- 
trators." (Springfield, Ohio, 1916-17, p. 60.) 



42 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

Professional Series or Courses. 

Two courses of lectures were given during the year, one by Dr. Bagley of 
Columbia University, who gave four lectures on professional subjects, and 
the other under the leadership of the director and faculty of the Bristol County 
Agricultural School. (New Bedford, Mass., 1919, p. 32.) 

Another illustration of the professional series is given below: 

Addresses or series of addresses have been recently given under the aus- 
pices of the teachers by Judge Ben B. Lindsey, Dr. Frank McMurry, Dr. Earl 
Barnes, and Henry Turner Bailey, and one by Miss Lucy Wheelock under the 
joint auspices of the Teachers' and Mothers' Clubs. (Jamestown, N. Y., 
1909-1912, p. 20.) 

(6) Support. 

The various means of support that are employed are of in- 
terest, because where other than teachers are concerned in that 
support non-professional influences enter to color the offerings. 

Private. 

A few hundred dollars spent on means of improving teachers would make 
the thousands spent for their services more effective in results. That is why 
private citizens who are providing the means to bring to the teachers the ablest 
speakers and the finest concerts, are performing for Fitchburg a great public 
service. (Fitchburg, Mass., 1914, p. 24.) 

Private and Teachers. 

The expense for these lectures amounted to $120. Of this Chas. T. Jeffery 
paid $83 and the teachers $37. (Kenosha, Wis., 1915, p. 84.) 

Teachers and Board of Education. 

The board also assisted the teachers in maintaining a general course of 
lectures, giving them free use of the high school auditorium for the purpose. 
(Springfield, Ohio, 1913, p. 53.) 

Board of Education. 

The board wisely continued the policy of making an appropriation for 
public lectures, under the direction of the superintendent. While the lectures 
are intended primarily for the teachers, a vigorous effort was made to extend 
their scope and interest as to make them appeal strongly to the general public. 
(Elmira, N. Y., 1912-13, p. 29.) 

Teachers and Public. 

There are several forms which such support takes, three of 
which are cited below as illustrative. 



Present-Day Agencies 43 

The teachers alone could not have supported the enterprise. The general 
pubhc recognized the merit of the various prograros presented, and together 
with the teachers furnished audiences which taxed the capacity of the high 
school auditorium. (Pittsfield, Mass., 1916, p. 25.) 

A self-imposed tax, a small percentage of each salary, is the annual custom. 
This yields a sum which is used under the direction of a committee for various 
common purposes, but chiefly to secure educational lectures. These are usual- 
ly of a strictly professional nature, but occasionally a lecture is given of such a 
character as to warrant an invitation to the general public and in case of an 
unusual expense the public is permitted to share the burden. (Jamestown, 
N.Y., 1909-12, p. 20.) 

The course was well supported by the people of the city, and a balance of 
S195 remains in the treasury as a nucleus for next year's course. (Williams- 
port, Pa., 1918-19, p. 12.) 

7. Principals' Associations. 

Important educational books are reviewed and current educational prob- 
lems are discussed at monthly meetings. (Mt. Vernon, N. Y., 1917, p. 11.) 

The reason for making a distinction between the above and 
the Principals' Meetings, previously discussed, is that the above 
seems to be entirely a voluntary group and one not in any way 
under the jurisdiction of the school system. The same report from 
which the above quotation is cited also contained a reference to 
principals' meetings similar to those previously mentioned. 

8. Special Clubs or Associations. 

These are in the main merely groups of like-minded teachers, 
meeting for the discussion of mutually interesting subjects. The 
illustrations cited below are characteristic of the groups. 

The Trenton Kindergarten Association had five meetings dur- 
ing the year and 

instructive talks were given by Mrs. McLean of Teachers College on "Games," 
Miss Wells of the Normal School on ''Industrial Arts in the Grades," and 
Miss Gambrill of the Normal School on "The Psychology of Play." 

Physical Education Club. There were demonstrations of games and 
dances, book reviews and discussions. (Trenton, N. J., 1918, p. 39.) 

The kindergarten teachers are organized into a club which meets once a 
month, and new methods of teaching are considered. The attendance is good 
and a fine spirit of progression is shown. (Manchester, N. H., 1919-20, p. 12.) 

9. Institutes. 

Institutes may be held at various times during the year. The 
distinguishing characteristic of the meeting is that it is for the 



44 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

consideration of professional subjects by the teachers. The pur- 
poses are nearly as diverse in character as the methods of holding 
the meetings. 

(l) TIME OF HOLDING MEETINGS. 

(a) Yearly. 

The thirty-third annual session of the Altoona District Teachers' Insti- 
tute was held August 25-29, 1919. (Altoona, Pa., 1919-20, p. 5.) 

Poughkeepsie, New York, held its Institute in the winter. 

One of the recognized institutions in connection with our public schools 
is the annual teachers' institute. The one which we held last February sur- 
passed in excellence any that we had previously held. (Poughkeepsie, N. Y., 
1915, p. 18.) 

(6) Twice Yearly. 

Instead of four or five successive days of institute work, the session has 
been divided into two parts, each lasting two days, with five periods in each day. 
The first part occurs during the Tuesday and Wednesday following Labor Day, 
school opening on Thursday. The second part occurs on the last Thursday and 
Friday of the fall semester, promotions having been made on the preceding 
Wednesday, and the spring semester opening on the following Monday. 
(Spokane, Wash., 1911-12, p. 40.) 

(c) Three Times Yearly. 

Teachers' Institute will be held on October 23 and 24, November 21, 1914, 
and February 12 and 13, 1915. (Chester, Pa., 1914-15, p.35.) 

The first session was held October 10 and 11, the second, October 17 and 
18, and the third, October 31 and November 1, 1919. (Bethlehem, Pa., 1918- 
20, p. 12.) 

(d) Four Times Yearly. 

From having a session of five days' duration we have come to holding a two 
days' session just before the opening, and a single day's session in October, 
January and March, in order to obviate too frequent meetings of teachers with 
supervisors. (Seattle, Wash., 1910, p. 31.) 

{e) Monthly. 

Under the rules of the Board, teachers are required to meet at least once 
a month for professional study. This is under the caption "Teachers' In- 
stitutes." (Austin, Tex., 1907, p. 35.) 



Present-Day Agencies 45 

(/) Frequently. 

For the teachers in service, one-day institutes are held at intervals during 
the school year. These have taken the place of the traditional "weekly" 
institutes. (Reading, Pa., 1910-11, p. 22.) 

(2) PUKPOSES. 

(a) Inspiration, Information and Direc- 
tion. 

The purpose is to keep constantly before our teachers the need for pro- 
fessional advancement, to give them as much inspiration as it is possible to give 
in such limited time, and to give such information and direction as may aid 
them in placing their work on a higher plane. (Kansas City, Mo., 1916, p. 24.) 

The purpose of the Institute was more for the consideration of the pro- 
fessional side of the teacher's work than for a review of the branches of in- 
struction required for a teacher's certificate. It was sought to improve the 
quality of the teacher's service by the creation and strengthening of ideals, 
by the fostering of faith in educational work, and by inspiration to larger and 
better things in the work of teaching. (Muskogee, Okla., 1911-12, pp. 27-28.) 

Q)) Inspiration. 

Teachers need the stimulus and the inspiration of such a gathering as 
this, and I hope the time will never come when we shall be deprived of this 
privilege. (Poughkeepsie, N. Y., 1915, p. 18.) 

The institute was a great benefit to the teachers and inspired them to 
do better work for the year. (Bethlehem, Pa., 1918-20, p. 12.) 

(c) Inspiration and Information. 

The institute for teachers, the purpose of which is to improve the quality 
of service by the creation and strengthening of ideals by fostering of faith in 
educational work, and by adding to the fund of the teacher's knowledge of 
subject matter and of educational practice . . . (Seattle, Wash., 1910, 
pp.30-31.) 

{d) Information and Direction. 

The work of the Institute resulted in some very definite plans which hav 
been put in operation in the schools and which have worked out successfully 
this past year. (Altoona, Pa., 1918-19, p. 24.) 

The past two years the textbook used in institute work was Monroe's 
History of Education, admittedly the strongest single text written on this 
subject. (Austin, Tex., 1907, p. 35.) 

Once each month a teacher's institute is held, the special study of which is 
the broad underlying principles of education which are common to all forms 
of educational work. (Houston, Tex., 1916-17, p. 20.) 

The Institute serves in a general way the purpose of reawakening one's 
interest in the special questions of pedagogy. (Wheeling, W. Va., 1906, p. 31.) 



46 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

(3 ) DISADVANTAGES . 

Some disadvantages of the Institute are expressed in the 
following citations: 

This new plan has resulted in more specific work, not to speak of the elim- 
ination of the physical exhaustion following a week of lectures. (Reading, 
Pa., 1910-11, p. 22.) 

. . . the efforts at professional growth during the institute immediately 
preceding the opening of school was not so generally popular. Many of the 
teachers felt that they were unnecessarily and unjustly being deprived of part 
of their vacation. This feeling among some of the teachers, in a measure, 
prevented us from securing the highest results. Earnest appeals by speakers 
to prepare for the best possible service in the greatest of callings fell upon the 
ears of many who could not divest themselves of the conviction that they were 
being deprived of rest and comfort during one of the hottest September weeks 
that Memphis has experienced. (Memphis, Tenn., 1911-12, p. 37.) 

Formerly dependence for effects was placed upon lectures of a general 
educational character, most of the work being done by lecturers and instructors 
having no connection with the local schools and little acquaintance with the 
local course of study and work. Work of this character was felt to be bene- 
ficial and helpful, but it lacked the element of definiteness and had too little 
reference to details of work immediately confronting the teachers. (Seattle, 
Wash., 1910, p. 31.) 

(4) ACTIVITIES. 

(a) Lectures by Professional Speakers. 

The thirty-second annual session of the Altoona District Teachers' In- 
stitute was held August 26-30, with the following as instructors: Dr. Reuben 
Post Halleck, Louisville, Ky., Dr. J. A. H. Keith, Principal of Indiana Normal 
School, Indiana, Pa.; Dr. C. B. Robertson, University of Pittsburg, Pittsburg, 
Pa. ; and Miss Emily Barry, Middletown, Ohio. (Altoona, Pa., 1918-19, p. 24.) 

The lecturers were Dr. A. E. Winship of Boston, Dr. Myron T. Scudder of 
New York City, Dr. A. R. Bennett and Dr. John C. Bliss of the New Paltz 
Normal School. (Poughkeepsie, N. Y., 1915, p. 18.) 

(6) Section Meetings, 

There are two hours of time given to each of these institutes. During the 
first hour, the teachers meet in groups or study circles, each under the leader- 
ship of some competent instructor, each group making a study of some good 
textbook on education, or some special educational problem. It is required 
that each teacher shall have made a study of some good book on each of the 
following subjects: (1) School Management; (2) Psychology; (3) History 
of Education ; (4) Principles of Education. After the teacher has made a study 
of four such books, the rest of the course becomes largely optional, a wide 
range of subjects being offered. 



Present-Day Agencies 47 

The second hour of the institute is given to an address on educational sub- 
jects, delivered to the entire teaching body, generally by some educational 
speaker from outside the school system. (Houston, Tex., 1916-17, p. 20.) 

A different use is described in Spokane, Wash. 

At these institutes, in addition to two general lectures each day, section 
meetings are held in which the teachers are grouped by grades or departments 
for round-table discussions, the supervisors meet the teachers by grades to 
outline the work in special subjects for the semester to follow, and every branch 
of the work is organized so that there is no delay in getting down to solid work 
as soon as the school room doors have swung open for the reception of pupils. 
(Spokane, Wash., 1910-12, p. 40.) 

A third form of these section meetings in described as follows : 

In September, 1914, a change was made in the organization of the monthly 
work of the teachers' institute. In addition to the usual announcements, 
addresses and professional talks incident to such meetings, all the white teachers 
of the city were divided into fourteen groups under fourteen strong leaders, 
and each group has made a study during the year of one of the following eight 
books : A Guide to Pictures, Caffin; Teaching the Common Branches, Charters; 
What We Hear in Music, Faulkner; Civics and Health, Allen; The American 
Secondary School, Sachs; New Demands in Education, Munro; The Normal 
Child and Primary Education, Gesell; School Organization and the Individual 
Child, Holmes. Nearly one- third of the teachers chose the book entitled. 
Teaching the Common Branches, there being five study groups in this book. 
The colored teachers in their institute have studied in a single group this same 
book, the Superintendent of Schools conducting the class in person. Each 
one of these books studied touches directly in some way the work of the class- 
room and each one of the books represents a distinct recent American contri- 
bution to the literature of teaching. (Dallas, Tex., 1915, p. 13.) 

III. DEVICES. 

(I) INCENTIVES AND INDUCEMENTS OF THE BOARD OF 
EDUCATION. 

1. Salary Schedule. 

(l) MANDATORY STUDY. 

Two forms of mandatory regulations concerning advanced 
professional study are given below. The first is negative, as it 
concerns the salary schedule, merely implying a relation. 

Over a year ago the School Board passed a regulation that each teacher 
should earn a university credit, or its equivalent, during the school year. 
A "university credit" was defined as meaning approximately twenty hours of 



48 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

recitation in some regular study course. A thousand of the teachers responded 
to this regulation; sixty, including those on leaves of absence, were excused for 
good reasons; while about one hundred have not reported as yet. (Portland, 
Ore., 1918, p. 20.) 

The second is a positive form detailing relations to salary- 
increases. 

In detailing a number of the features of the salary schedule to one of the 
educational journals the following were pointed out: 

1. "Elimination of the conventional basis of teachers' salary schedules 
such as grade school, junior high school, and high school salary schedules. 
Under the schedule adopted the college graduate teaching in the grades is 
regarded just as valuable as if she were teaching in the High School. A normal 
graduate teaching in the Junior High School is no better paid than as if she 
were teaching in the grades. In other words, no department suffers by com- 
parison with any other department on basis of salaries. This principle will 
prevent the massing of the best teaching talent in any particular department. 

2. "Recognition of the principle that teaching is a profession that re- 
quires acquaintance with the best and latest thought to remain permanently 
in the profession, just as in medicine or dentistry, is involved in these rules. 
Professional advancement is made mandatory. Every teacher must, within 
every four year period, get off thirty hours credit of university or normal 
school work in professional advancement or self -improvement courses. Pro- 
fessional advancement is made the sine qua non for all teachers who expect 
to remain in the profession. In future revisions we shall undoubtedly shorten 
the period within which professional advancement must take place and shall 
also give credit for work done beyond the minimum requirements. 

3. "The Board of Education, instead of subsidizing ambition by extend- 
ing bonuses which a limited number might attain through summer school 
courses, has subsidized universal professional training. Under these rules the 
Board of Education pays all expenses and half the fees of local University 
Extension Courses. The welfare of the schools is too important to permit any 
laggards in the teaching ranks. This provision, we feel, will awaken in many 
a teacher a fresh desire for higher education and will induce many to take 
residence courses in colleges and universities. It is, also, emphasizing the fact 
that education is life and is co-equal with life. We hope also that out of the 
University Extension Courses which we shall establish here that they may come 
to represent the center of learning and culture to which all citizens of our city 
may come to satisfy their cravings for a clearer and more ample revelation of 
those meanings of life that the university has in its power to give. 

4. "To keep alive the fire of professional interest after the teacher has 
reached the end of the period of increased earnings, the rules provide extra 
maximum increments covering a period of sixteen years beyond the maximum. 
Every four years a teacher may obtain a fifty dollar increase to her salary pro- 
vided she has done a stipulated amount of work in University Extension 
Courses. We want our teachers to feel that a time never comes when the 



Present-Day Agencies 49 

Board of Education fails to take notice of sustained professional interest." 
(Johnstown, Pa., 1920, pp. 50-51.) 

The Rules governing teachers and salaries in the same city 
are as follows: 

Basis of Salary Schedules. 

Teachers' salaries shall be based upon preparation, experience, profes- 
sional advancement and a recommendation of "Satisfactory" on the part of 
the Supervisory force. . . . 

No Departmental Differential. 

No differential in salary shall be recognized for service in any department 
of the school system except as may be construed under rule one. 

Professional Advancement. 

Professional advancement shall be defined as consisting of resident or 
extension courses in education or self-improvement courses in academic or 
practical subjects or skills, as they may be successfully pursued under the jur- 
isdiction of any college, university, normal or trade school. The Superin- 
tendent of Schools shall construe the term professional advancement, and its 
evaluation in credit hours, in any instance not covered by this definition. 
All elections of extension or resident courses to comply with the requirements 
of these rules shall be subject to approval by the Superintendent of Schools. 
He shall also determine whether the character of the individual work done 
merits accrediting. 

Fourth Annual Increment. 

Each member of the department of instruction in the system shall be not 
entitled to a fourth annual increment until he or she shall have completed 
subsequent to the adoption of these rules, at least 30 hours of work toward pro- 
fessional advancement. 

University Extension Courses. 

The Board of Education shall provide quarters and half the fees and ex- 
penses of all local University Extension Courses for professional advancement, 
that they agree to authorize. 

Extra-Maximum Increments. 

Teachers who have reached the maximum of Schedule A or B and who, at 
the end of each or any successive four year period after reaching such maximum, 
shall have completed 30 hours work toward professional advancement shall 
receive thereafter an additional $50 annual increment to their salaries. The 
sum total of such increments shall not exceed $200. Such increments shall 
be given at the end of the sixteenth, twentieth, twenty-fourth and twenty- 
eighth years of experience. All teachers now in the employ of the district at 
the maximum shall be eligible to earn, in successive four year periods, the extra- 



50 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

maximum increments. The sum total years of experience of all teachers now 
at the maximum or who shall be elected at the maximum, shall, as far as the 
schedule herein adopted are concerned, be reckoned as twelve years of ex- 
perience. (Johnstown, Pa., 1920, pp. 51 ff.) 

(2) VOLUNTAKY STUDY. 

The following citations are illustrative of simple or non- 
elaborate provisions: 

When the maximum of salary is received a teacher may further increase 
her salary by taking prescribed courses of study, and after a term of service of 
four years at this increased salary a teacher may apply for the privilege of 
studying still further and may obtain an additional increase. (Columbus, Ga., 
1916, pp. 18-19.) 

After appointment, for which a large amount of professional preparation 
is prerequisite, teachers in service are credited for work in professional im- 
provement by a system of credits which determine salary increases. 

The maximum salary for elementary teachers is $950 and an additional 
advance of $50, to a maximum of $1000, is granted to all teachers who have 
pursued after appointment professional work aggregating a total of at least 
eight credits. This work may be done during the school year, afternoons, 
evenings, or Saturdays, at the University of Cincinnati, at the Art Academy 
and at various other educational institutions, or in school houses under in- 
structors approved by the Superintendent of Schools. It may also take the 
form of summer work or the completing of a year's course in the State Reading 
Circle. (Cincinnati, O., (1) 1914, pp. 53-54.) 

The School Committee may increase the salary of any teacher at its dis- 
cretion in excess of advances provided by regular schedules, in recognition of 
approved professional study or courses taken during employment and for 
marked superiority of service, upon special recommendation by the superin- 
tendent and principal. (Haverhill, Mass., 1919, p. 7.) 

Under a 'Tremium Plan" 

a grade teacher would receive $5 additional salary per year for each ad- 
ditional two points of extension work. (Stamford, Conn., 1921, p. 11.) 

Teachersof the district, holding State Certificates . . . who have taught 
one year at the regular maximum salary of their class, shall receive an addi- 
tional annual increase of $25 for every 72 hours of college credits obtained in 
not more than two professional and academic branches, such as Education, 
English Literature, History, Modern Language, Science, etc., until the 
amount of $1,050 a year is reached by the teachers of the first six grades, $1,250 
by the teachers of the Junior High School and seventh and eighth grades, and 
$1,600 by teachers of the High School. Provided, however, that for teachers 
of the elementary grades and the Junior High School, such special increase 
shall not exceed $50 in one year, and for teachers of the High School, shall 
not exceed $100 in one year. 



Present-Day Agencies 51 

Teachers who have taught at the highest special increase in their class for 
one year, and have obtained the master's degree, earned by University work, 
shall receive an additional increase of one hundred ($100) dollars. ^ 

The salary schedule has an added attractiveness in the liberal provisions 
it makes for teachers who are desirous of seK-improvement. An immediate in- 
crease of S50 in salary is granted and a like sum added to the maximum of the 
schedule, to a limit of $300 for each eight semester units of college credit 
received. (Harrisburg, Pa., 1920, p. 19.) 

Two detailed and elaborate citations should be made. These 
are from Beverly, Massachusetts, and La Crosse, Wisconsin. 

At a meeting of the School Board on February 25, 1918 it was voted that 
a special committee be appointed to study the salary situation in Beverly and 
suggest a plan for rewarding meritorious service. (Beverly, Mass., 1918-19, 
p. 5.) 

The Board . . . adopted the following recommendations of this special 
committee for the encouragement of professional study: ''Encouragement of 
Professional Growth with Length of Tenure." 

(A) The term "Teacher," as used in this section, shall include all persons 
in teaching or supervisory positions in the public schools. 

(B) EligibiUty. Any teacher who has taught not less than 12 years the 
last five of which shall have been continuous service in Beverly and who meets 
the conditions referred to in Section C, shall be eligible to a special salary in- 
crease of $50. Five years after receiving a special increase a teacher shall 
again become eligible to a similar increase for work done since the previous in- 
crease was granted. 

Time spent on leave of absence for professional study shall count as part 
of the continuous service, and in the discretion of the Board leave of absence 
not exceeding one year for other purposes may count toward the required five 
years or be deemed not to break the continuity of service. 

(C) Procedure. Teachers are invited to file with the Superintendent 
of Schools before October 1 of any school year, on a form provided for this 
purpose, a statement of such special work as they have done for which in their 
judgment the school committee may desire to grant credit towards this special 
salary increase. An outHne of the work which the committee approves may 
be obtained through the Superintendent of Schools. 

The Instruction Committee, after consultation with the Superintendent 
of Schools, shall make recommendations for salary increases under this section 
not later than December 1st of each year. 

(D) Time. This section shall take effect on October 29, 1918. 

Outline of Requirements for Special Salary Increases and Opportunities 
for Professional Growth Which the Committee Deems Worthy of Special 
Recognition. Details relating to Chap. II, Sec. 8, Paragraph C of Rules. 

^Salary Schedule, AUentown, Pa., 1918-1919, pp. 26-27. 



52 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

(A) Teaching efficiency as shown by results which in the opinion of the 
Principal and the Superintendent of Schools indicates that the teacher meets 
the conditions outlined in Chapter III, Section 5, Paragraph 2 of the Rules 
shall be considered the first requirement. 

(B) The second requirement shall be that professional work by the 
teacher be deemed by the Instruction Committee and Superintendent of 
Schools worthy of six credits in one or more of the following: . . . 

(a) Resident study at an institution of recognized standing taken while 
the teacher is on leave of absence : 1 credit for each half course. 

(6) University Extension Courses conducted by the Massachusetts Board 
of Education : 1 credit per 16 class hours. 

(c) Normal School or College Correspondence Courses of standard 
grade: 2 credits for 16 or more lessons. 

id) University Extension Courses offered by the Committee on Extension 
Courses: 1 credit for each half course. 

(e) Attendance at Normal or College summer schools: 3 credits for 
30 or more program hours. 

(/) Reading Courses, four or more books : 1 credit. The teacher shall 
prepare an abstract of each book read and after reasonable notification shall 
be prepared to take an examination upon any one of these books which the 
Instruction Committee and Superintendent of Schools may select. Two of 
the books must relate directly to the class-room work of the teacher. Not more 
than 2 credits may be awarded for reading courses. 

(gr) A thesis on some topic related to school work and based upon current 
educational literature and personal class-room experience : 1 credit. 

{h) Accomplishments through miscellaneous activities such as travel, 
music, lecture courses, etc., which have been of such character as to relate to 
school work and which the teacher feels confident have contributed to in- 
creased success in the school-room: Maximum of two of the necessary 
6 credits. 

Study courses for which credit is given must relate to the work or pro- 
fession of the teacher. 

Not more than three credits may be awarded for study courses taken 
during any one school year, nor more than 5 credits for those of any twelve 
month period, except in case of study at an institution of recognized standing 
while teacher is on leave of absence. 



Class-room Work. 

Provided approval of the general plan has been granted in advance by the 
Instruction Committee and Superintendent of Schools, a teacher may use 
her class-room as a laboratory for the study of educational problems involving 
observation, study and report. The satisfactory completion of the study of an 
important problem requiring investigation and study for not less than two 
years may be awarded a maximum of five credits. A problem requiring not 
less than one year may receive a maximum of 3 credits. 



Present-Day Agencies 53 

Professional Service. 

From 1 to 4 credits may be recommended by the Instruction Committee 
and Superintendent of Schools for exceptional service to the school system 
which is readily recognized as surpassing the requirements of Chap. Ill, 
Section 5, Paragraph 2. (Beverly, Mass., 1918-19, pp. 6-8.) 

The second citation is from La Crosse, Wisconsin : 

While the regular increment is $50, the more ambitious and efficient teacher 
may secure a larger increase each year until she reaches the maximum. . . . 

. . . For unusually good work accompanied by study, a teacher may, 
upon recommendation of the principal, approved by the superintendent, be 
granted a double promotion in salary. (Study in the above instance shall be 
understood to mean :) 

(a) Approved extension professional course credits (at least two courses) 
or 

(&) An unusual work of investigation of which the results are approved 
as contributing to the efficiency of the school system, or 

(c) Approved professional night school courses (at least two courses) or 

{d) Satisfactory proof of the reading of at least eight professional books 
on an approved list furnished by the Superintendent, or 

(e) Extensive travel approved by the superintendent as contributing to 
professional improvement. 

(J) For unusual leadership in student activities or in an administrative 
capacity, a teacher may, upon recommendation of the principal, approved by 
the superintendent, be awarded an additional increment in salary. 

In cases 1, 2 and 3 detailed written recommendations must be filed in the 
office of the superintendent. 

. . . For credits, at least three semester hours in courses which may be 
helpful to the teacher in her work, earned at a college or university summer 
school approved by the superintendent, she may be granted a double promo- 
tion in salary. 

. . . Any class Al teacher (any teacher receiving the above maximum) 
who complies with Paragraph 4 [above] shall be entitled to $50 additional 
salary for a period not in excess of three years following such compliance. 
(La Crosse, Wis., 1920, pp. 28-29.) 

2. Bonus. 

See the reports from Auburn, New York and from Rochester, 
New York, p. 26. 

3. Reward for Exceptional Service. 
See the report from Beverly, Mass., p. 53. 

4. Scholarship. 

See the reports of Pittsburgh, Pa., Toledo, Ohio, and Indianap- 
olis, Ind., pp. 27-28. 



54 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

5. Leave of Absence. 

(1) WITHOUT PAY. 

That the professional spirit is growing and that many of our teachers are 
preparing to extend their education along both academic and professional lines, 
is evidenced by the fact that an increasing number this year have asked and 
obtained leave of absence for the purpose of attending some university, college 
or normal school. (Kansas City, Mo., 1916, p. 26.) 

(2) WITHOUT PAY BUT WITH SALAKY INCKEASE. 

A further training of teachers in service was stimulated by a change in 
the Board's Regulations giving to teachers absent on leave for study at higher 
institutions the benefit of the automatic increase in their salaries the same as 
if they had been in active service in the schools. (St. Louis, Mo., (3) 1916-17, 
p. 68.) 

The Superintendent may grant leave of absence, without pay, for pro- 
fessional study. On filing with the Superintendent satisfactory evidence as 
to the character and extent of such study, the time devoted by the teacher to 
this study, may, with the approval of the Superintendent, be credited to the 
teacher as experience for the purpose of determining the teacher's salary ad- 
vancement under the schedule applying,^ 

In this connection see also the salary schedule of Beverly, 
Mass., p. 51. 

(3) WITH PAY. 

Leave of absence with pay, or with part pay, is an accepted 
principle among higher institutions in this country. An early ex- 
tension of the principle to the elementary school teachers of a city, 
which if not the earliest is at least classic, is given below. 

Extract from the Rules of the School Committee, Newton Public Schools. 

Chapter IV, Section 4. 

Any teacher who has served continuously in the Newton Schools for a 
period of not less than seven years may, on the recommendation of the super- 
intendent, be granted leave of absence not exceeding one year. During such 
absence the teacher shall continue in the employment of the school department, 
and shall receive a monthly salary equal to one-half his or her monthly salary 
of the preceding year. A teacher's leave of absence shall be spent largely or 
wholly in study, such study to be undertaken with the advice of the superin- 
tendent and carried on in such institutions or in such places and under such 
teachers as the Superintendent may approve. 

As a condition of receiving such leave of absence, the teacher shall enter 
into a contract to continue in the service of the school department for a period 

^Salary Schedule of Cleveland Schools, Adopted May 24, 1920, Cleveland, Ohio, p. 4. 



Present-Day Agencies 55 

of at least three years after the expiration of the leave of absence; failing so to 
continue in the service of the school department the teacher shall repay to 
said department a sum bearing the same ratio to the amount of salary re- 
ceived while on leave of absence that the unfulfilled portion of the three 
subsequent years' service bears to the full three years. 

Provided, however, that the teacher shall be released from such payment 
if her failure to serve the three years as stipulated be due to her illness, or if 
she be discharged or voluntarily released from her position by the school 
department. ^ 

In 1908 the Board of Education ruled that any teacher or principal who 
shall have served the City of Rochester for seven years, may on the recommen- 
dation of the superintendent and with the approval of the Board of Education 
be granted leave of absence for travel or study. The essential conditions for 
such privilege are that definite reports shall be made to the Superintendent 
during the absence and that applicants shall file with the Board a written agree- 
ment to remain in the service of the Board for three years, after the leave of 
absence, or refund such part of the salary paid during the leave of absence as 
the unexpired portion bears to the three year period. Such leave may not be 
taken oftener than once in eight consecutive years. The salary paid during 
such leave shall in no case exceed SI, 000. The number allowed such leave 
during any school year shall not exceed fifteen. From the candidates who 
apply selection is made according to length of service, distribution according 
to schools, and kinds of service.^ 

(4) SPECIAL NEGATIVE CASES. 

These negative cases are here included in that they show two 
aspects of the feehng concerning the granting of leaves of absence. 

On May 8, 1913, the Board of Education adopted a rule for 
granting leaves of absence "only for the purpose of study or foreign 
travel" to teachers who had "completed seven years of service in 
the Public Schools of Detroit" "not to exceed one year in any 
eight consecutive years" and to " receive during such leave of ab- 
sence in lieu of his regular salary $50 per school month." A further 
provision was an agreement to teach for three years thereafter or 
to refund proportionally for the imexpired portion of the time. 

"Acting under the authority of the rule thirteen teachers were 
granted leaves of absence for the year 1913-14." 

On August 22, 1913, the corporation counsel of the city gave 
his opinion that such monies could not legally be paid to these 

^Spalding, F. E., Salaries, Efficiency and Improvement of Teachers, Newton Public Schoolsi 
Newton, Mass., Jan., 1908. pp. 29-31. 

^BuUetin of General Information, Rochester, N. Y., Nov. 1915., p. 36. 



56 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

teachers "because the teachers are not required to render the 
service before the money is paid." 

On September 25th the Board voted to grant to these teachers 
on leave an increase for the ''succeding year [only] a salary of $500 
in excess of that which would otherwise be paid them." 

Inasmuch however as there seems to be some question as to the de- 
sirability of continuing sabbatical leaves under such uncertain conditions . . . 
the operation of the rule ... is practically suspended. (Detroit, Mich., 
1913-14, p. 85 ff.) 

Woonsocket, R. I., reports as follows: 

In view of the increasing number of requests from teachers for extended 
leave of absence, the granting of which has a more or less detrimental effect 
upon the schools, the School Committee, at its meeting September 13, 1918, 
voted that ''It is the sense of the Board that no further leave for extended 
absence of teachers shall be granted unless for poor health or for service for 
the Government of the United States or any of its allies." (Woonsocket, 
R. I., July, 1919, p. 10.) 

6. Board of Education Diploma. 
The following is from Cambridge, Mass. : 

The successful teacher to-day must be a student as well as a teacher and 
must take active part in the world's work for which she is striving to prepare 
her pupils. 

Recommended: (a) That the superintendent of schools be authorized 
to complete his plans whereby the Cambridge teachers shall be able to take the 
University Extension and College Courses to be arranged for teachers and 
offered to them the coming year. 

(6) That teachers successfully completing one or more of such courses 
shall receive a diploma or certificate to state that it is given in recognition of the 
teacher's voluntary study in preparation of her work, to name the course or 
courses taken, and to bear the signature of the chairman of the School Com- 
mittee, of the Superintendent of Schools and of the college official or ofl&cials 
under whose authority the course or courses were given. 

The courses taken must be approved by the Superintendent of Schools. 
(Cambridge, Mass., 1920, p. 18.) 

7. Travel. 

Teachers are expected to purchase magazines, school journals, books in 
their respective subjects, attend summer school occasionally and do some 
travefing. (Fargo, N. D., 1917-19, p. 27.) 

The teachers have shown a greater interest in the professional work as is 
indicated by their reading, travel, attendance at educational meetings, visiting 



Present-Day Agencies 57 

other schools, attending summer schools and in various other ways keeping 
abreast of the best educational thought. (Canton, Ohio, (1) 1911-12, p. 13.) 

Last year we were honored by having the National Commissioner of Edu- 
cation select two of our teachers to be in the small group of teachers, who went 
to Germany to study, under the direction of the Department, the conditions 
in the German Schools, especially in the continuation schools of Munich 
and Dusseldorf . Miss Alice Joyce and Mr. Julius Kline were the two selected 
and they came back enthusiastic about the continuation schools. (Portland, 
Ore., 1915, p. 28.) 

(II) BOARD OF EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS. 

1. License Plan. 

The plan of licensing teachers in the Indianapolis Schools through exami- 
nations conducted under the authority of the Board of School Commissioners 
provides a progressive schedule of professional training of all teachers in the 
elementary schools. There are seven grades of license or certificates: 1st 
Temporary, 2nd District School, 3rd Assistant, 4th Principal, 5th High 
School, 6th Special License for Manual Instruction, 7th German. 

District School Certificates are given without examination to graduates 
of the State Normal School, City Normal School and all other normal schools 
of equal rank with these, such rank to be determined by the Superintendent of 
Schools. A system of grades for special study prevails and constitutes a re- 
quirement for higher grades of license. 

It is the custom of the Superintendent and Board of School Commis- 
sioners of Indianapolis to accept credits for work satisfactorily done in ex- 
tension courses in lieu of certain examinations for the assistants and prin- 
cipals certificates. (Indianapolis, Ind., 1916, p. 31.) 

2. Requirements for Professional Study. 

After reaching the maximum salary, teachers are required to take at least 
one professional course every other year. (Cincinnati, O., (1) 1914, p. 54.) 

Another rule of the Board requires every teacher to attend faithfully at 
least every third year during the summer months, some professional or normal 
school. (Austin, Tex., 1907, p. 36.) 

In this connection see also Portland, Oregon, (p. 47.) and 
Johnstown, Pa. (p. 48.) previously quoted. 

(III) EXTENSION OF KNOWLEDGE. 

1. Teachers' Professional Library. 

(i) in individual schools. 

(a) By Board of Education. 

In order to further increase the facilities for self- improvement we were 
able to supply to the libraries of the different schools a line of professional books, 



58 Irn.provement of Teachers in Service 

more or less directly connected with the subjects to be taught. These were 
placed in the hands of the principal to be used by the teachers in the building. 
Their use in many cases furnished the subject matter and material for the 
teachers' meetings that were held by the principals in their respective buildings. 
(Kansas City, Mo., 1916, p. 24.) 

(h) By Public Library. 

The Harrisburg Public Library has thus far established eleven branch li- 
braries in the schools. This institution is co-operating in many ways in aiding 
both teachers and pupils in their work, and, in classifying important factors 
having to do with the improvement of teaching, it should not be omitted. 
(Harrisburg, Pa., 1919, p. 26-27.) 

(2) IN PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

The Teachers' Consulting Library was organized in 1888, before the 
present Public Library was built. It had, according to its last report, a total 
of 3,500 volumes, amongst which was a superior collection of books on teaching. 
The Public Library is rendering increasingly valuable service to the public 
schools. Its present staff, upon its own initiative, is endeavoring to establish 
closer cooperation with teachers, and has conducted conferences with the 
teachers of the different grades in ways of making the library useful to the 
schools and for informing the teachers concerning the resources of the library, 
and has sent desirable collections of books to the different schools and in a 
variety of other ways is rendering very practical help to the teachers and to 
the pupils. In fact because of the competency and willingness of the Public 
Library Staff, there is reason to think that the Teachers' Consulting Library 
itself will be of greater use to the teachers than it was when it was in possession 
of the school and had not even one person as a competent librarian in charge. 
(Trenton, N. J., 1917, p. 24.) 

(3) IN SPECIAL teachers' LIBRARY. 

Another effort along these lines is the establishment in the municipal 
building for the use of supervisors, principals and teachers of a professional 
library and reading room. Books on psychology, history of education and 
other kindred subjects, may be obtained from the library; also advice as to 
courses of reading. (Rochester, N. Y., (1) 1911-13, p. 25.) 

A Teachers' Club Room, where exhibits of school work, professional 
magazines, libraries of textbooks and professional literature are maintained, is 
open afternoons, Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings to the teachers and 
general public. (Dayton, Ohio, 1913-14, pp. 95-96.) 

(4) IN CONNECTION WITH INSTITUTE. 

The library connected with the Institute is open at each of the monthly 
meetings, and the librarian will be present to exchange books for the teachers. 
The books are allowed to remain out one month. 



Present-Day Agencies 59 

For the greater convenience of the teachers, through the courtesy of the 
Trustees of the Chester Free Library, the books of the Institute Library most 
in demand have been deposited in a special case in the Free Library Building, 
which is open daily between the hours of 9 A. M. and 9 P. M. A reading table 
has also been set aside for teachers and furnished by the Institute with educa- 
tional periodicals. These periodicals, other than the current numbers, may 
be taken from the library subject to the same rules as the books. (Chester, 
Pa., 1910-11, p. 35.) 

(5) DEPARTMENT OF SUPERINTENDENCE. 

The Pedagogical Library connected with the Department of Superin- 
tendence now contains over fourteen thousand bound volumes, besides current 
copies of a large number of educational periodicals and pamphlets. These 
are freely used by the teachers as well as by the students in the teacher-training 
schools. 

The library places at the disposal of the teachers of the city practically all 
of the more important publications on educational topics as they appear from 
time to time, as well as many of the more valuable publications on closely 
allied subjects. The extent to w^hich the library is used is an additional evi- 
dence of the progressive spirit of many of the Philadelphia teachers and is 
an ample justification of the comparatively small amount spent from year to 
year for renewals and additions to this library. (Philadelphia, Pa., 1915, 
p. 52.) 

2. Professional Reading Courses. 
(i) in schools. 

Every building has its professional reading club in which all the teachers 
devote some time each week to professional reading of the latest and best 
books on education and of the Current school journals. (Cambridge, Mass., 
1916, p. 10.) 

The teachers in each building meet from time to time to read and discuss 
a portion of some previously selected professional text. (North Adams, Mass., 
1920, p. 14.) 

(2) REQUIRED. 

(a) By Superintendent. 

In order to make sure that teachers studied I have asked that some book 
be read during the year and reviewed, the review to be sent to me at the end 
of the year. During the school year, 1910-11 two books were assigned for 
review. The past year only one, namely, Colgrove's "Teacher and School." 
(Duluth, Minn., 1912, no paging.) 

(6) By Board of Education. 

Teachers in every grade must do a reasonable amount of professional 
reading and study in order that their schools may be kept in touch with modern 



60 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

educational thought and up to the progress of the times. (Canton, Ohio, (2) 
1911-12, p. 61.) 

Our teachers are expected to read annually a professional course as out- 
lined either by the State or city school authorities. (Dayton, Ohio, 1913-14, 
p. 95.) 

(3) SEMI-REQUIRED. 

The teachers of the Jamestown schools evince their interest in professional 
advancement by pursuing each year some definite line of individual or group 
reading. To this end the superintendent recommends a book, or several 
books, from which a selection may be made, and the teacher is expected to 
indicate at the first of the year what professional work she plans to undertake 
and later a report of the work accomplished is required. While no penalties 
are attached to failing and no reward follows compliance with this quasi reg- 
ulation there is always a gratifying response to this suggested course of 
reading. (Jamestown, N. Y., 1909-12, p. 20.) 

(4) VOLUNTARY. 

(a) With Superintendent. 

The Superintendent met a group of teachers bi-weekly from November to 
April for the study and discussion of some of the fundamental principles under- 
lying all good teaching. Each teacher in the group provided herself with the 
following books: Dewey's ''Interest and Effort," Dewey's "Principles of 
Moral Education," Dewey's "How We Think,"and Thorndike's "Psychology." 
(Auburn, N. Y., 1918-19, p. 23.) 

The past year we have been making a careful study of Dr. Frank Mc- 
Murry's book, "How to Study." (Olean, N. Y., 1907-1911, p. 26.) 

(h) With Public Library. 

The increasing interest of the teachers of Dallas in professional reading is 
evidenced by the statement that the circulation of books from the pedagogical 
section of the Dallas Public Library has more than trebled, almost quadrupled, 
during the past year. (Dallas, Tex., 1915, p. 14.) 

(5) READING CIRCLE. 

To give opportunity for a further study of the professional side of teaching, 
preparation has been made for the ensuing year for Reading Circle Work. 
(Wheeling, W. Va., 1908, p. 29.) 

3. Collections of Materials, Class Labora- 
tory AND Experimentation, and Thesis. 
The means of knowledge extension that are of interest here 
are recognized in the salary schedule of the Beverly, Mass., 
teachers, (see p. 52.) 



Present-Day Agencies 61 

In addition the superintendent reports that 

Thirty-seven teachers made special collections and outlines of school 
subjects as aids to more effective teaching [and that] forty-one tried experi- 
ments or new methods. (Beverly, Mass., 1917, p. 12.) 

4. Visiting Days. 

Kingston, New York, lists 20 cities visited and 57 teachers who 
went to see work done by other teachers. (Kingston, N. Y., 1911- 
12, p. 27.) 

The Superintendent of Schools of Raleigh, N. C, reports: 

How to develop skill in the teaching corps is quite a problem. The visit 
of forty-three of our teachers to the schools of Cincinnati two years ago en- 
thused our teachers in a way that nothing else has done since my connection 
with the Raleigh Schools. In Cincinnati they saw some of the best equipped 
school rooms in the country and likewise they witnessed teaching under almost 
ideal conditions. (Raleigh, N. C, 1913-14, p. 17.) 

The following is reported from New York City: 

A most important part of the training of teachers is that received after 
appointment. We have definitely recognized as an essential part of such 
training visitation by teachers and principals of schools and classes other than 
their own. It does not appear that the whole system is benefiting directly 
from these visits, although the individual principals and teachers may profit 
from these observations. I recommend that the Board of Superintendents 
be requested to outline a plan by which the reports of such visits may be ana- 
lyzed, so that from time to time, through a published statement, the knowl- 
edge resulting from these visits — new devices, methods of teaching, and ad- 
ministration — may be used to help the entire system. It is worth considering 
whether it be desirable that teachers and principals be accompanied by local 
board members or by members of this Board, in these visits, to see the best 
examples of methods of instruction and administration. (New York City, 
N.Y., (1)1914, p. 14£f.) 

Canton, Ohio, reports the following plan : 

Teachers shall be allowed one day or more at the discretion of the Superin- 
tendent of Instruction in each school year to visit other schools in the city in 
order to observe the methods of instruction and discipline therein pursued. 
On permission of the Superintendent of Instruction this privilege shall extend 
to other school systems than our own. Application for visiting days shall be 
made to the Superintendent of Instruction. Reports of such visits shall be 
made to the Superintendent. (Canton, Ohio, (2) 1911-12, p. 61.) 



62 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

A further plan is reported in Dayton, Ohio: 

Leaves of absence without loss of pay are generously granted by our Board 
of Education for visiting other schools or for educational trips, notably to at- 
tend the Department of Superintendence Meetings at Mobile and Philadelphia. 
(Dayton, Ohio, 1913-14, p. 95.) 

5. Magazines. 

The magazines supplied by the Board have been in use among the teachers, 
and the supply of pedagogical books secured as the nucleus of a teachers' 
library has given a decided impetus to professional reading and study. (Beth- 
lehem, Pa., 1915-16, p. 3.) 

Dallas, Texas, reports an interesting variation: 

... in many of the schools groups of teachers have organized clubs for 
subscriptions to current educational literature, taking several educational mag- 
azines which they circulate among the members of the club. (Dallas, Tex., 
1915, p. 13.) 

(IV) MISCELLANEOUS DEVICES. 

1. Self-Rating Cakds or Devices. 

In Meriden, Conn., the superintendent outlined his ideas of 

(1) how the principals might aid in improving teachers in service, 

(2) how the superintendent himself might aid, and (3) how the 
teachers might aid themselves. 

In March, 1915 the outline was sent to teachers and principals with the 
request that each check off the items indicated and note wherein further prog- 
ress might be made for the good of the schools. (Meriden, Conn., 1916, p. 21.) 

To meet the need for a clear understanding of the essential characteristics 
of the good teacher the Superintendent outUned his ideas on the subject in 
tabular form. [Who is the Good Teacher? Issued by the School Department 
of Fall River, Mass., 1918.] . . . Pupils and teachers have been advised to 
use this pamphlet as a stock inventory sheet. At least twice each year, when 
school opens, and again in the middle of the year, every teacher can profit 
from a careful self-examination in which comparison is made of realities as 
against possibiUties. (Fall River, Mass., 1918, p. 30) 

Elmira, N. Y., reports as follows: 

An important step forward was taken during the year when a system of 
rating teachers was adopted. A card was prepared for the purpose. 

The card rates the teachers by the principals on sub-headings 
of "Physical Efficiency," ''Mental Efficiency," ''Moral Efficiency," 



Present-Day Agencies 63 

^Teaching Efficiency," ' 'Managing Efficiency," and ''General 
Efficiency," on a system of "E-Excellent, G-Good, F-Fair, 
P-Poor, + indicates improving, — indicates losing ground" and 
"no entry indicates satisfactory." 

Efficiency records are intended to help poor teachers become good teach- 
ers, good teachers, better teachers, and the better teachers, best teachers. 
(Elmira, N. Y., 1915-16, p. 21.) 

2. Exchange of Teacheks. 

Two fairly recent experiences in administering this device are 
given below, one as illustrative of administrative difficulties, and 
the other as illustrative of successful operation. 

At a meeting of the Committee on Instruction held on Wednesday evening, 
April 27, 1921, the poh'cy of the Superintendent on the exchange of teachers, as 
presented in the following recommendation, was concurred in : 

The Superintendent has recently received several requests from ele- 
mentary teachers in California for exchange with teachers in the Newark 
School System. 

Several reasons are given for making the problem "vexatious" 
such as the "matter of certification, payment of salaries, differences 
of salaries and the effect of a year's absence on the granting of the 
state pension for teachers." It was a legal opinion that there could 
be no credit given toward increase of salary for such teachers 
who went away, etc. 

In view of the above, the Superintendent is of the opinion that it is not 
advisable for the Board to arrange for the formal exchange of teachers in the 
elementary grades. ^ 

Last year we tried the experiment of exchange of teachers. Miss Wake- 
man of the Washington High School was exchanged with Miss Messer of 
Springfield, Massachusetts. Miss Wakeman greatly enjoyed the experience 
and came back to us with many suggestions. Miss Messer, I understand, 
also found the plan satisfactory, and thought she gained something for her home 
schools. This year we have extended the idea, and have endeavored to ex- 
change a number of teachers with far eastern cities. Those selected to go are 
Miss Hallie Thomas of Kenton School, Miss Rozene Epple of Eliot School, 
Miss Nora B. Green of Ladd School, and Miss Maybelle E. Ross of Holman 
School. We hope that this plan wiU stimulate an interest on the part of all 
teachers to be eligible for exchange, and that it will bring to us the best ideas 
from the cities where our people teach. (Portland, Ore., 1915, p. 28.) 

^ Newark School Bulldin Newark, N. J., Vol. I, No. 9, May, 1921, p. 144., 



64 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

3. Improving the Course of Study. 

The work done by the principals and experienced teachers last summer in 
revising the course of study, in the demands it made upon those who took 
part, and benefits to the schools, was fully equal to two weeks of half day 
institute. Comparatively few of the whole teaching force took part in this 
revision of the course of study, most of them only for a few days. However, 
the principals worked for a longer time, and especially those who remained in 
the city, and assisted me to put the course in final shape for the printer. (Mem- 
phis, Tenn., 1911-12, p. 36.) 

This year we undertook to revise the course in certain subjects, with the 
result that at the present moment we have tentative courses in citizenship, 
English, and arithmetic for all classes. Believing in the principle of democ- 
racy, and taking into consideration the talent that we have in our various 
grades, the superintendent appointed a committee of three from among the 
principals to have general charge of each course. Sub-committees of three 
teachers from each grade in each subject were appointed to prepare the pre- 
liminary outlines, the idea being to assemble the reports and suggestions filed 
by each committee, and to have the general committee edit the whole outline. 
(La Crosse, Wis., 1918, p. 21.) 

One very important work begun during the year was the simplification 
and revision of the course of study. A committee of teachers was appointed 
in each grade. These committees were to make suggestions for the revision 
of the work of their respective grades. Frequent conferences were held with 
the superintendent. The members of the committees have displaj^ed a very 
commendable spirit in this work. The preliminary reports were handed in 
at the close of school. The changes suggested were not as numerous as one 
might expect. These reports on the whole show quite a general satisfaction 
with the course of study as it now stands, although some very valuable sug- 
gestions have been offered. The tendency toward elimination and simplifi- 
cation was slight. That feature will doubtless be given greater emphasis in 
subsequent reports. (Superior, Wis., 1912-13, p. 27.) 

4. School Exhibits. 

Topeka, Kansas, reports: 

Not only do the improvements in the course of study afford tangible 
evidence of the progressive work done by the teaching staff, but the annual 
school exhibits evidence the same. In May, 1914 these exhibits were held 
in each building. ... In May, 1915 corresponding exhibits were held in 
the various buildings, and following this a central exhibit of the best work from 
all the schools was held. . . . 

There were two phases: 

First, the usual static exhibit of school work in language, history, geogra- 
phy, sewing, cooking, manual training, drawing, writing, and other forms of 
work which lend themselves to this type of exhibition. 



Present-Day Agencies 65 

A second feature was a living exhibit, consisting of music, dramatization, 
and physical education exercises. (Topeka, Kan., 1914-15, p. 23 ff.) 

A second form of the school exhibit is reported from Trenton, 
New Jersey. 

The New Jersey State Library Commission placed an exhibition of chil- 
dren's books, pictures, and reading lists in the Carroll Robbins School for ten 
days, which was most interesting and instructive to the children and to teachers 
and was examined by many visiting teachers and members of the city library 
staff, as well as by the pupils of the training school and the Normal School. 
(Trenton, N. J., 1916, p. 30.) 

5. Tests and Measurements. 

. . . it is the judgment of the superintendent that in the hands of a 
teacher of good judgment they can be used to great advantage to clear up 
questions, which no doubt exist in the minds of thoughtful instructors, and I 
sincerely hope to see them used more frequently during the coming year. 
(La Crosse, Wis., 1918, p. 23.) 

The use of tests and measurements in Detroit is of pecuUar 
interest here. It is described in connection with the data concern- 
ing professional supervision, (see p. 70.) 

6. Proposal for Twelve Months' Salary. 

I am more particularly favorable to placing all salaries on a twelve months' 
basis so that a teacher may not feel compelled to work in her vacation on any 
subject except those relating to her profession. If the schools were organized 
on the basis of four terms of twelve weeks each, each teacher could be 
engaged by the year and be required to teach three out of four terms. Her 
fourth term or vacation, could be used for recreation, travel and study. 
(Richmond, Va., 1914, p. 16.) 

IV. PROFESSIONAL SUPERVISION. 

(I) PERSONAL INTERVIEWS. 

These are mentioned by several superintendents as being 
valuable for several reasons. They may be used 

to develop each and every teacher to her greatest efficiency. (Moline, 111., 
1916, p. 29.) 

Conferences were held weekly with each individual teacher in order that 
she might receive as much help as possible with her particular problem. (Fall 
River, Mass., 1917, p. 65.) 



66 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

The practice in Bethlehem, Pa., is described as follows: 

Special attention and persistent effort have been devoted to the improve- 
ment of class-room instruction. The work of teachers was observed as fre- 
quently as possible, suggestions and directions were given, and many formal 
conferences with individual teachers and small groups of teachers were held 
to discuss conditions and devise plans and methods for the solution of par- 
ticular problems. (Bethlehem, Pa., 1915-16, p. 22.) 

Elmira, N. Y., mentions personal interviews as follows: 

After a teacher is in the system every effort should be made to help her 
succeed. There are a number of ways of doing this. Teachers' meetings, 
visits, directed reading, and personal interviews should be employed for the 
purpose. (Elmira, N. Y., 1915-16, p. 20.) 

In Schenectady, N. Y., supervisors have announced office 
hours, at least once a week for one and one quarter hours, for con- 
sultation and interviews with teachers.^ 

(II) PROFESSIONAL SUPERVISION. 

As such several places report special efforts to make their super- 
vision effective and not merely inspectorial. While this may be a 
general and almost universal purpose, at the present time few 
superintendents specifically mention this as an important phase in 
the improvement of their teachers in service. Some of the more 
definite reports are given below. 

Nothing is more vital to the welfare of the school than the constant im- 
provement of the teachers in service. To secure this improvement is the 
endeavor of the supervisory officers. This is done through personal help, 
through conferences with small groups, and through special meetings for the 
discussion of important educational problems. (Indianapolis, Ind., 1916,p.34.) 

Teachers generally are learning to appreciate the importance of profes- 
sional improvement. The fine spirit with which so many of our teachers call 
upon the supervisors for help is one evidence of growing interest. (Fall River, 
Mass., 1918, p. 30.) 

Brief mention has just been made of the fact that a supervisor of primary 
methods is now employed for the purpose of enabling the teachers of the first 
three grades to get the greatest possible returns from their efforts. I would 
suggest and recommend that, with the opening of new buildings now under 
construction, a second supervisor of methods be engaged to work with the 
teachers above the third grade. No expenditure of the city would bring better 
and more prompt returns. (Quincy, Mass., 1916, p. 14.) 

^Supt. Rept. in Rept. Dept. of Public Inst., Vol. I, No. 4, October, 1913, Schenectady, N. Y., p. 7. 



Present-Day Agencies 67 

Supervision Reports. Each Principal, the Supervisor of Instruction, and 
the Superintendent makes a brief written report of each class-room visit of 
fifteen minutes or more in length. These reports are used to help improve the 
quality of the teaching in the schools. The reports are often discussed with 
the teachers. 

Supervision Standards . . . "Standards and Ideals" [used in] judging 
the quality of the teaching service . . . are the result of cooperative study 
by Principals, Supervisor and Superintendent. (Mt. Vernon, N. Y., 1917, p. 11.) 

A report from Cleveland, Ohio, is of interest here with respect 
to the method of supervision: 

Dm-ing the past three j^ears I have striven to set up among teachers and 
principals some definite standards for judging and directing class-room work. 
These are commonly known among educators as the McMurry Standards, 
and are as follows : 

School and class-room work are to be judged: 

1. By the extent to which they are connected with life. (Life 
Problems.) 

2. By the extent to which they provide for initiative on the part 
of the pupils. (Individuality.) 

3. By the extent to which they provide for organization of the sub- 
ject matter on the part of the pupils. 

4. By the extent to which they provide the opportunity for judging 
relative values. 

5. By the extent to which they afford the opportunity for using 
content learned. 

Early in September, 1912, I called a meeting of my principals and super- 
visors, at which each was given a typewritten copy of these standards. We 
proceeded to discuss the same and to point out some definite directions as to 
ways and means of applying these principles to the class-room instruction. 

The particular subject selected to which to apply these standards was 
reading in the first grade. Reading was chosen because most of our primary 
teachers were starting to use a new method reader, and it seemed an opportune 
time to introduce some new standards by which to judge their work. (Cleve- 
land, Ohio, 1914-15, p. 20.) 

In a mimeographed set of sheets from the Department of In- 
struction, Teacher Training and Research, to the District Principal 
of the Detroit Schools, dated December, 13 1921, the following 
quotations are of interest as showing the trend which supervision 
is taking in that city. 

Attached hereto is a copy of the "Tentative Formulation of the Ultimate 
Duties of General Supervisors of Instruction in a [n] Ideal School System, and 
of their Relation to Administrative Officers" as stated last year. Each prin- 
cipal and supervisor should re-read this statement of general plan. From the 



68 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

discussion with district principals, Mr, Courtis and supervisors, there seems to 
be no disposition to question the general policy, but rather to ask for informa- 
tion concerning the program or steps by which the general plan is to be put into 
effect. 

The transition to the present policy should be a gradual one rather than 
an abrupt break with the past. From time to time additional subjects should 
be formally transferred from the older method of supervision to the present 
plan. Such a transfer should come only when the supervisor concerned is 
able to furnish the principal with adequate standards for the judging of in- 
struction in that particular subject. 

Up to date a formal transfer from the older method has taken place in one 

subject — handwriting. The supervisor of handwriting and the principals 

should now adhere to the present policy of supervision in this subject. A 

' similar transfer will take place in the near future in the case of spelling and of 

arithmetic in certain grades. Other subjects will follow. 

In general where no formal transfer has taken place the former method 
of supervision will prevail. 

However, aside from the above statement of program the acceptance of 
the present policy necessitates certain changes which affect all supervision; 
announcements, calls for teachers' meetings, instructional materials, etc., are 
no longer sent directly to teachers but transmitted through the regular ad- 
ministrative channel; superintendent to district principal; district principal 
to principal, and principal to teacher. Although principals are not directly 
responsible for the instructional outcome of such materials as are sent out in 
subjects in which there has been no formal transfer to the present policy, they 
should do everything within their power to transmit and interpret to the best 
of their ability such materials and instructions. 

Supervisors will to an increasing degree keep principals informed of their 
supervisory activities and as far as possible work through the principal instead 
of directly with the teacher until it has been demonstrated in what subjects 
and in what detail supervision by the principal is practical. 

The means of teacher-training are : 

(a) Courses of study and curricula. 

(6) Special bulletins of instructions, type lessons, exhibitions, etc. 

(c) Meetings with groups of teachers for demonstration lessons, 
instruction, etc. 

(d) Personal visits to teachers for diagnosis, instruction, demon- 
stration, etc. 

(e) Personal conferences with teachers to give assistance. 

A supervisor should feel responsible for knowing the general condition of 
instruction throughout the city and for locating the precise causes of success 
or failure, but has no responsibility whatsoever for the success or failure of a 
particular teacher. His teacher-training work with groups or with individuals, 
should always be of the nature of rendering a service. It should be under- 
taken only on the request of administrative officers approved by the general 
instructional officer in charge. 



Present-Day Agencies 69 

By inspection is meant the survey of society, the school system, the equip- 
ment, the means of instruction, the service, the personnel, the pupils, or any 
other items or details to ascertain how efficiently instruction is being given. 
Such inspection, when initiated by a supervisor, shall have for its purpose 
the benefit of the supervisor and not the person or condition inspected. On a 
visit of inspection a supervisor shall make no critical comment except on the 
specific request of the principal or teacher, and shall give teacher-training as- 
sistance only when specifically asked to do so, and then only in the achieve- 
ment of objectives officially approved by the administration. 

In other words, the idea in the minds of many teachers that they are re- 
sponsible to supervisors should have no foundation in the comments or other 
behavior of supervisors. For methods, content, ground covered, and all other 
details of instruction teachers are responsible to their administrative super- 
visors only, and only for such plans and standards of instruction as have been 
officially adopted. Both principals and supervisors should not judge teachers 
except in terms of adopted standards. If a supervisor observes a departure 
from the established procedure which seems to him either desirable or un- 
desirable he should report it to the Director of Instruction as a fact but the 
supervisor has no authority to order its correction and nothing should be said 
or done by the supervisor to make the teacher feel that the supervisor either 
approves or disapproves, or that his approval or disapproval would have any 
influence in determining the standing of the teacher. 

It cannot be too much emphasized that the supervisor's own visits to 
schools are for his own education and benefit. He must be familiar with the 
workings of the system by personal observation. He must serve to cumulate 
and integrate the best work and thought of the system. He can draw upon 
the assistance and guidance of the administrative machinery, but he must not 
exercise executive control in any way. 

A TENTATIVE FORMULATION OF THE ULTIMATE DUTIES OF 

GENERAL SUPERVISORS OF INSTRUCTION IN AN IDEAL 

SCHOOL SYSTEM, AND OF THEIR RELATIONS 

TO ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS. 

Definition. 

A general supervisor of instruction is an individual who possesses expert 
knowledge of the subject matter and methods of teaching of one or more re- 
lated divisions of school room activities, and who has been given general 
oversight of the instruction within the field of his expert knowledge. 

Duties. 

In general the function of a supervisor of instruction is to do whatever 
creative, constructive thinking within his field is essential to the vitality and 
progress of the school system as a whole. In other words, his chief duty is 
to be, and to remain expert in his particular line. He should know more about 
the general conditions of instruction within his special field than any one else 
in the system, and be more capable of solving problems peculiar to his field. 



70 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

The specific functions of a supervisor of instruction are three : research, 
teacher-training and inspection. Of these research is the basic function. The 
other two are made necessary by the nature of research work and the purposes 
from which it is undertaken. 

By research is meant the discovery and active experimental solution of 
current problems in subject-matter and instruction, or in their administration 
in the class-room. That is, from the point of view of its effect upon the school 
system as a whole, supervision is the agency charged with (1) the maintenance 
of the existing level of instruction, (2) the conservation of advances made by 
individual teachers or other agents, and (3) the organization of systematic 
attempts to improve the eflSciency of instruction. 

The phases of research are : 

(a) The discovery of existing defects. (Possible items of improve- 
ment.) 

(6) The search for suggestions of improved methods in the work of 
agents in our own or in other systems. 

(c) The formulation of a working plan for improvement. 
{d) The trial of the plan under experimental conditions with se- 
lection of the successful solution on the basis of measured results. 

(e) The formulation of specific plans for putting the new method 
into operation and of standards, tests, etc., for measuring its effects. 
At each stage of the research work, the plans of a supervisor are to be 
submitted through regular channels to administrative officers for approval 
and assistance. With the sale of the final plan and standards to the proper 
administrative officer, the responsibility of the supervisor ends. He has no 
responsibility for putting the plan into operation, except to analyze and report 
upon the results of such tests as may be given to check how well the work is 
being done. 

By teacher-training is meant rendering assistance to administrative officers 
who attempt to carry out the plans adopted by the administration but fail to 
achieve the proper standards.^ 

(Ill) HELPING TEACHER. 

The plan used in Maine is reported in the following : 

The difficulties of program making, combination of classes, adaptation of 
the course of study to the condition of the school, physical education, methods 
of instruction, sanitation, and social work are her specialties. [The Helping 
Teacher.] She works six days a week. Her school is closed on Monday and 
open on Saturday. On the first of these days she visits and assists the other 
rural teachers in their work, on the second of these days the other rural teachers 
visit her school to learn by observation the best methods of procedure. (Lewis- 
ton, Me., 1919-20, p. 12.) 

^Detroit, Mich., Communication to District Principala, by the Department of Instruction, 
Teacher Training and Research. Dated, December, 13, 1921. 



Present-Day Agencies 71 

(IV) DEMONSTRATION LESSONS. 

Demonstration lessons conducted by able teachers in the system or by the 
supervisor followed by criticism and the application of the principles of the 
technique of teaching [are held for the purpose of helping] each teacher to 
render the highest type of teaching service of which she is capable. (Duluth, 
Minn., 1918, p. 3.) 

Once or twice each year the teachers of each of the several grades spend 
the last hour of the afternoon session for several successive days observing class 
demonstrations by fellow teachers of the same grade who have done superior 
work in the subject demonstrated. (Mt. Vernon, N. Y., 1917, p. 12.) 

Meetings of our primary teachers were held frequently throughout the 
year. Standards and principles were discussed. At most of these meetings 
some teacher with her class was present to illustrate how those standards and 
principles were applied. This proved to be most helpful. (Cleveland, Ohio, 
(2) 1914-15, p. 22.) 

V. WORK WITH NEW TEACHERS. 

In this section it is attempted to give a characterization of the 
work that is being done with new teachers. Some of it is out of 
date in the particular locaUty from which it is reported. Part of it, 
as here reported, may not do some particular place the justice it 
deserves. It has nevertheless been deemed wise to report the 
sources of each type illustrated. 

(I) TYPES. 

1. Assisting Teachers. 

The following, from Lynn, Massachusetts, is a true type of 
work of in-service character, assuming that some pre-service train- 
ing is the prerequisite for that kind of work: 

In May, 1916, the superintendent and assistant superintendent of 
schools shall select not more than six Lynn girls, members of the graduating 
classes in the Normal Schools of the state, or the kindergarten training schools, 
who shall be offered positions as assistants in the Lynn schools, and no other 
inexperienced teachers shall be appointed. The salary of such assistants shall 
be $25 a month; they shall serve as far as practicable as substitutes for regular 
teachers absent because of iUness or to visit and study other schools. 

When not thus employed they shall assist regular teachers in the class- 
rooms to which they may be assigned by the superintendent, doing a desig- 
nated amount of class teaching under the supervision and criticism of the 
teacher. 

After a year of such service those assistants who have established their 
fitness shall constitute a preferred list from which regular appointments for 
teaching positions may be made. (L>Tin, Mass., 1915, pp. 16-17.) 



72 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

The two following plans, while technically training teachers 
in service are really pre-service extensions: 

The assistant teachers have for the most part been greatly interested in 
the work, and the training they have received will be beneficial not only to 
them but to the schools. Almost all of the assistant teachers were given regu- 
lar positions before the year closed. These took the place of the regular 
teachers who resigned or were given charge of the additional rooms opened 
during the year. The fact that these had training relieved the situation con- 
siderably as it is difficult to secure good teachers during the school year from 
other cities. 

The plan adopted in June of paying the assistants one dollar per day will 
make it necessary to appoint them to rooms in which the number of pupils 
is above the average. However this will not prohibit the placing of young 
teachers who desire to learn the work and who show exceptional ability. (Can- 
ton, Ohio, (1) 1911-12, pp. 12-13.) 

The Cincinnati plan follows : 

Briefly the plan [for the fourth and fifth years of teacher-training] purposes 
to have the fourth and fifth year University students who are enrolled in the 
College for Teachers give half time to actual teaching, under the careful super- 
vision of supervising (cooperating) teachers, selected because of their demon- 
strated success as teachers and of their ability to inspire and direct the work of 
young teachers in training. Each cooperating teacher has two classes of the 
same grade to which are assigned four student- teachers. Two teach in charge 
of the respective classes during the morning and return to the University for 
work in the afternoon; two who have been attending the University during the 
forenoon take charge of the same classes during the afternoon. If they are 
fourth-year undergraduate students, they teach without pay as an essential 
part of their training. If they are fourth-year students who have received 
the A. B. or B. S. degree, and are taking the fifth year largely in the College 
for Teachers, they are to receive one-half the annual salary of a beginning teach- 
er and upon the first year of full appointment will receive the second year's 
salary. This arrangement was made to encourage as many teachers as possible 
to take five years of preparation for the work of teaching, a full college course 
with the required professional training for teaching in addition, though it would 
be desirable that the professional work should not all be left for the fifth year. 
(Cincinnati, Ohio, 1917, p. 39 ff.) 

2. Building Assistants. 

The period immediately following professional preparation and preceding 
permanent appointment is a critical period in the life of the inexperienced 
teacher. It is here that she begins her independent work, the responsibility 
for the outcome of which she must now assume. It is essential, therefore, that 
the conditions under which she works should be such as to give a fair test of 
her powers. It is furthermore essential that they should have wise and sym- 



Present-Day Agencies 73 

pathetic counsel. The provision adopted by the Board shortly after the 
opening of school last September by which one of these inexperienced teachers 
is placed in each grammar school so far as possible, is designed to meet these 
two conditions. The stay in one school during this trial period enables such 
a teacher to work in an environment with which she can become reasonably 
familiar. At least one-half of her time must be spent in independent teaching, 
and the remainder may be spent in such administrative duties as the principal 
may assign. Thus every act becomes for her educative, since even her admin- 
istrative and clerical duties embrace precisely those which she will have to 
meet as an independent grade teacher. She is also working under such close 
direction of the principal that counsel and guidance can easily and naturally be 
given. As a teacher-training provision this promises to be extremely helpful. 
(Rochester, N. Y., (2) 1911-13, p. 122 £f.) 

The following is a form of the same character, but is, however, 
of the pre-service type : 

Our system of introducing new teachers as assistants to the principals, 
while faulty in some respects, has nevertheless much to commend it. What- 
ever may be said of its shortcomings, it affords a most excellent training for 
the new teachers for the schools, and by the time they become regular grade 
teachers, they are usually very successful from the start. (Savannah, Ga., 
1911, p. 17.) 

3. Apprentice Teachers. 

Somerville graduates of state normal schools or of college courses in edu- 
cation are given an opportunity to get one year's training as an apprentice 
teacher, after graduation, in order to qualify for a permanent position. At the 
end of this period they are eligible for consideration with all others for ap- 
pointment to any existing vacancy. (Somerville, Mass., 1918-19, p. 7.) 

A pre-service type of the apprentice teacher system is reported 
from Memphis, Tennessee: 

The dozen high school graduates who constituted the training class during 
regular school hours did good work; but they were impatient to begin drawing 
a salary as an aid. As high school graduates have in the past been elected 
to the position of aid without being required to make a study of the course of 
study with a view of teaching it, it will take considerable time to reconcile 
them to this very necessary preparation. During the year just closed the 
members of the training class did not receive, on an average, more than tw^o 
months professional training before being called upon to serve as aids. 
This, however, is an encouraging beginning. (Memphis, Tenn., 1911-12, 
pp. 38-40.) 



74 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

4. Cadet Teachers. 

The New Bedford plan, here presented, is an illustration of 
in-service improvement : 

The present plan of admitting New Bedford young ladies to the teaching 
corps following one year of teaching experience after graduation from Normal 
School is not satisfactory. Upon their graduation from normal school all 
seem to aim to get positions in the country schools nearby in order that they 
may live near home. This plan serves our neighbors admirably but deprives 
us of the rich experience which comes from close supervision in a graded school 
system. The young teacher needs guidance and help, and plenty of it, and 
in order to gain this end I present the following plan for your consideration. 

New Bedford students who graduate from a recognized normal school 
and who have maintained an average B record during their course may be 
appointed as cadet teachers for one term at a salary at the rate of seven hun- 
dred and fifty dollars per annum. If their work warrants it they may be elected 
for an additional term at the same rate of pay. The cadet teachers shall work 
under the direction of a helping teacher who shall receive in addition to her 
regular stipend salary at the rate of two hundred dollars per annum, each of said 
teachers to have charge of two cadets and be responsible for the discipline and 
instruction of the rooms in which the cadets are placed. I believe that the 
plan outlined above will give us better teachers than the present plan, and our 
new teachers will go to their first assignments with a much broader training 
and better understanding of what is expected of them in New Bedford. (New 
Bedford, Mass., 1920, p. 40.) 

A survey of Chicago schools ''by members of the teaching 
force under the direction of Superintendent Young and her staff" 
as reported in the Report of the Board of Education of Chicago, IlL, 
for 1914, is commented on as follows by Principal Owen of the 
Normal School, in the report of the following year. 

The report discusses the period of cadetship. [See pp. 210, 211, 212. 
Report of 1914.] Theoretically a graduate of the Chicago Normal School is 
assigned on graduation to an elementary school to serve a period of four months 
as a cadet without pay. For years on account of a shortage of teachers the 
cadets have been called upon to serve as substitutes for a large part of this 
period of cadetship. The survey committee gathered the opinions of the prin- 
cipals and a selected number of graduates as to the effects of this practice. 
A majority of the principals believe that it is not fair to mark a substitute ca- 
det on the basis of a minimum of two days' service, that service as a substitute 
tends to disintegrate the young teacher's training, and that it would be better 
to assign the graduate at once to a school for four months' continuous service. 
A majority of the graduates report that more than half their time as cadets 
was given to service as substitutes, that they could utilize the normal school 
training in the service of substituting, that substituting is harder than reg- 



Present-Day Agencies 75 

ular teaching, and that they would prefer to be assigned as regular teachers 
at the outset. (Chicago, 111., 1915, p. 56ff.) 

The following illustration is a pre-service form : 

Another important addition to the curriculum has been added in the es- 
tablishment of a teachers' training department. The plan provides for an 
annual selection of not more than seven graduates of the High School to be 
known as cadet teachers. The cadet teachers will be required to remain two 
weeks at a time in rooms designated by the Superintendent, observing and 
assisting with the work of teaching. They will be given a course in pedagogy, 
and will make weekly recitations and reports of their work. It is the intention 
that every opportunity will be given cadet teachers to get the practical knowl- 
edge of teaching, as well as a theoretical basis for good teaching. They will 
also be given the privilege of doing the supply work in the city system for which 
they will be paid two dollars a day. (Muskogee, Okla., 1912-13, p. 14.) 

5. Substitutes. 

The following is a discussion of substitute teachers from 
Washington, D. C. : 

Our list of substitutes is made up of normal school graduates who have not 
secured regular appointments, and who have not had training or real experience 
fitting them for work in the higher grades, of candidates for appointment now 
on the eligible list, and of ex-teachers and others with or without professional 
training. 

It is my thought that aU supervisory officers should give special attention 
to the supervision of the substitute service. High and normal school principals 
should supervise closely the substitutes employed in their buildings and should 
report monthly on their efficiency to the superintendent. The supervising 
principals, or certain ones designated, and the directors of special work should 
systematically supervise and report of the efficiency of the substitutes in their 
fields. The supervision should be definitely constructive, involving criticisms, 
suggestions for improvement, advice as to classes to visit for observation, etc. 
(Washington, D. C, 1916, pp. 34-35.) 

The two following illustrations are of the pre-service type: 

Whereas, heretofore, teachers of no training and without experience were 
able to enter our teaching corps, now, through the wise action of the Board, 
no teacher can enter the corps unless of four years' high school education and 
two years' service as a substitute teacher. 

These substitutes, besides following a course in professional reading and 
study, will spend ten days each month in the schools observing and assisting. 
(AUentown, Pa., 1917-18, p. 38.) 

Small cities like Spartanburg cannot afford a normal school. But the 
school system of the town may represent a training school, of which the im- 



76 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

trained teachers and the substitutes are the students and the Superintendent 
and the trained teachers are the instructors. Some of the regular teachers are 
selected, whom the pupil-teachers are sent to observe. The teacher explains 
the purpose of her work. The pupil-teacher is expected to take notes and to 
ask questions. After a while, when she begins to become famiUar with the 
methods of teaching, the substitute is required to teach the class herself, under 
the supervision of the regular teacher, who is expected to hand the Superin- 
tendent a written criticism of the work. The criticism often bring about a 
conference of the Superintendent, the teacher and the substitute. In this way, 
the substitute learns how to plan lessons, to call the classes to order and to 
dismiss them, besides having the opportunity of the advice of friendly critics. 

When the time for the annual election of teachers comes, the Board of 
Trustees will feel under no obligation to appoint applicants from home, except 
those who have done satisfactory work in the training class. The Board is 
generally reUeved to have the number of home applicants reduced in this way. 

Young ladies who wish to be employed as substitutes should report to 
the Superintendent not later than October 1st. None but full college gradu- 
ates need apply. (Spartanburg, S. C, 1918-19, p. 23.) 

(II) OTHER METHODS. 

1. Tkaining Class. 

The Training Class was organized under the leadership of a committee 
of three * * * for the purpose of giving practical training to supply teachers 
and newly appointed teachers. [The class met once a week, each Thursday, 
in the East Denver High School.] (Denver, Colo., (2) 1918-19, p. 24.) 

2. Model Teachers. 

This method, as used in Washington, D. C, was evidently- 
applicable to experienced teachers as well as to the younger 
teachers, but it is included here because it represents a special 
type of work for the younger teachers. 

At present the model teacher conducts her own class as an observation 
class. On the half of each day when she is not teaching she visits a certain 
group of grade teachers assigned to her and supervises their work. 

The Superintendent criticises this procedure on the following 
grounds : 

1. The use of model teachers as supervisors, and 

2. The wisdom of having young teachers observe and model 
themselves after a single individual. 

It is my intention to direct that during the coming year [1916] first and 
second grade teachers shall visit at least once per term each model teacher of 
the same grade. 



Present-Bay Agencies 77 

I believe that we should not make our appointments to model teacherships 
permanent. (Washington, D. C, 1915, pp. 24-25.) 

3. Training School Supervision. 
The form reported in Augusta, Ga., is as follows: 

Another improvement has been the appointment of an assistant teacher 
in the training school, thus enabling the training school teachers to see the work 
of the newly elected teachers and to help them as much as possible. (Augusta, 
Ga., 1913, p. 40.) 

Another form of this in the report from Providence, R. I., 
which follows: 

In addition, the practical side of teaching is fostered through the state 
and city training schools. This provision makes it possible for the young; 
teacher to have a year's actual experience in charge of a class-room, and during; 
that period to benefit by the constant advice and help of the critic teacher* 
(Providence, R. I., 1915-16, p. 58.) 

A third form is from Cleveland: 

When the young graduates have been long enough in the work of teaching 
to know definitely some of the problems which, alone in a school room they 
must struggle with, their teacher friends of the Normal School are often able 
to render valuable assistance by virtue of visiting them at their work. On the 
other hand, some of the training teachers see reflected in their former students 
their own mannerisms and peculiarities. Thus these visits result in benefit 
to those supervising as well as to those supervised. (Cleveland, Ohio, (1) 
1914-15, pp. 48-50.) 

4. Special Supervision of Young Teachers. 

There has also been much supervision of inexperienced teachers during 
their first year of service. (Cincinnati, Ohio, (2) 1914, p. 132.) 

The following is from Fall River, Massachusetts : 

The younger teachers for the most part have been closely supervised. 
They have been given advice and direction so that they will live up to the ideals 
and standards set before them in the Normal Schools, that they make as few 
mistakes as possible and waste the least amount of time in finding their way 
into skilled methods of teaching. Working under this direction many of the 
young teachers have gained rapidly in ability to take charge of a room and 
have been saved from the discouragement due to misdirected effort. It is 
evident that young teachers should not be allowed to form habits, which, at 
a later time, will have to be laboriously corrected. It is very gratifying to say 



78 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

that almost without exception the young teachers have taken advice freely, 
have acted upon it, and to the best of their ability have tried to improve their 
work. 

It is the duty of the supervisor first of all to encourage and stimulate young 
teachers, exercising at the same time a frank criticism of faults and errors. 
Criticism, however, must be wisely given for it should never leave a feeling of 
discouragement. The supervisor and the young teacher must get into such 
close relationship that the teacher embodies the spirit of the supervisor without 
having her own freedom and independence warped. She should feel that the 
supervisor is her friend and that she is ready at any time to talk over the points 
in teaching that are most difficult to handle. (Fall River, Mass., 1917, pp. 
63-64.) 

The following is illustrative from Moline, 111. : 

As a further effort towards improvement in service the principals and 
supervisors were asked to make use of a so-called Efficiency Card in rating the 
work of the teachers who were in their first year of service. A composite card, 
the results of the combined opinions of all the supervisors, the principal and 
the superintendent, indicated the points of strength and weakness, and in 
many instances served as a great help in locating deficiencies and in suggesting 
remedies. (Moline, 111., 1916, p. 29.) 

5. Reserve Teacher. 

The illustration below is an instance of efforts toward the im- 
provement of all teachers, but the special applicability of the scheme 
to the helping of the young teacher makes it pertinent here. 

In the fall of 1914 the Board of Education selected four teachers of broad 
experience and proven skill to be reserve teachers, with salaries ranging above 
$1,000. Their duties are indicated by their title. They were not only active 
as supply teachers in case of sickness, or absence of the regular teacher but they 
were frequently sent to make a study of unusual or annoying school-room con- 
ditions and to render assistance therein. (Dallas, Tex., 1915, p. 18.) 

6. Special Meetings of Young Teachers. 

During October, 1912, four Saturday forenoon meetings were held to 
improve the members of the training class, aids and those teachers who most 
needed help in drawing, music, physical education and penmanship. The 
instruction was given by the respective supervisors of these subjects. In order 
that the principals and the assistant superintendent might be in close touch 
with the requirements of the supervisors, they were all required to attend 
these meetings. The superintendent was in attendance upon all of them. 
The teachers who attended these meetings received much help from them. 
(Memphis, Tenn., 1912-13, p. 61.) 



Present-Day Agencies 79 

7. Visits and Observation. 

During the past two years twenty-one teachers selected from the unassigned 
list were trained in first grade work. At different times in the past we have had 
difficulty in securing well qualified new teachers to take charge of the first 
grade rooms. Many young women who are capable in other grades preferred 
not to teach in the first grade feeling that they were unfitted for that particular 
branch of the work. Realizing how very necessary it is that the first grade 
teacher should be particularly adapted for her work, and also happy in it, a 
plan was devised by which selected young teachers were trained in first grade 
work. A number of the regular first grade teachers were enlisted to help in 
the training. Each young teacher had a program of visiting planned for her. 
She was given opportunity to visit first grade rooms in the various parts of the 
city where conditions vary much. After each visiting day, the teachers in 
training met to discuss what they had observed in the different classes and 
then had the different phases of first grade work explained to them. As a 
result of this training there has been for a year and a half a sufficient number 
of teachers who could take charge of first grade rooms whenever vacancies 
occurred. (Fall River, Mass., 1911, pp. 64-65.) 

8. Teaching-Center Plan. (Buffalo, N. Y.) 

In brief, the principal features of this plan are as follows : By agreement 
with the University of Buffalo and Canisius College, all graduates of the 
Buffalo State Normal School are given credit for two full years of collegiate 
work. Upon passing the city competitive examination they receive the usual 
probationary contract terminable at any time within two years upon the suc- 
cessful completion of which their tenure becomes permanent. They are as- 
signed to one of six schools designated as "Teacher-centers," given a regular 
class, and receive the full pay provided by the salary-schedule for the beginning 
teacher. The considerations governing the selection of these teacher- centers 
were threefold. First, a principal who had demonstrated unusual ability as a 
teacher-builder; second, a school which had established high ideals of achieve- 
ment for the various grades; third, accessibility to the normal school and the 
university where the probationary teacher takes her extra work. 

For every four or five probationary teachers, each center has one super- 
visory teacher, who, by reason of her high ideals, strong personality, capacity 
for growth, and unusual instructional skill, has shown special aptitude for this 
work. She helps the probationary teacher plan her lessons; sympathetically 
evaluates her performance; takes her classes for demonstration purposes; aids 
her in her disciplinary troubles; keeps her in touch with the most helpful 
literature of her subjects; encourages, stimulates, and assists her in aU her 
difficulties; in short, acts as a "big-sister" or official adviser. 

For the work at the teacher-centers, if successful, the probationer is given 
two coUege credits for each semester on the ground that this constitutes her 
laboratory work. This teaching credit may be continued for three years, 
making it possible for her to secure twelve credits for successful teaching. 
College credit for successful teaching is somewhat of a novelty and was not 



80 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

gained without considerable effort. The necessary credit was, however, 
finally granted and as a result, for the first time, so far as I know, in the history 
of education, successful teaching under the most careful supervision is placed 
on a footing of collegiate equality with such sacred operations as changing 
chemical compounds and carving crayfish. 

In addition to the arduous work involved in the intensive training of the 
teacher-center, each probationer is required to take a two-hour course in what 
we term, for want of a better name, "college civics." We are passing through 
a period of general unrest and vague dissatisfaction with all existing institutions . 
Every man who finds his abilities inadequate for making a success of his own 
affairs feels a strong call to the less arduous and much more soul-satisfying 
task of reforming the world. That the carrying out of his particular scheme 
of reform may involve the tearing down of all that the race has so laboriously 
built up in the slow and painful progress of civilization seems to him a mere 
detail. We may deport the most dangerous of these radicals but we cannot 
deport the dangerous idea. For that, the sole remedy is education. The ob- 
ject of this course in college civics is to orient the probationary teacher in the 
social order of which she forms a part and to give her a few sound notions of 
the fimdamental principles of economics and sociology. This course pursued 
throughout the year carries four college credits. 

At the end of her year at the teacher-center the probationer has acquired 
sixty-four credits for her normal-school work, four for college civics, and, an- 
ticipating the next two years, twelve for successful teaching, making a total of 
eighty college credits. As one hundred and twenty-eight credits are required 
for graduation, she has forty-eight still to secure. 

She is then assigned to one of the regular schools of the city, making way 
for a new group of incoming teachers at the teacher-centers. If she wishes to 
work for a degree, she must now decide on her future line of work as a teacher of 
upper or lower elementary grades, or of some special subject in the intermediate 
schools or senior high school. For each of these fields a course of required 
subjects, together with sufficient electives to complete the remaining forty-eight 
credits required for graduation, is laid down by the university. This work has 
been so arranged that it can all be taken after school hours and on Saturday 
forenoons. The teacher may progress rapidly or slowly according to her abili- 
ties and inclinations and upon completion of this work, together with the 
submission of a satisfactory thesis, she is granted the regular Bachelor of 
Science degree at the University of Buffalo. Similar arrangements have been 
made with Canisius College.^ 

^Pillsbury, W. H., Elementary School Journal, Vol. XXI, No. 8, April, 1921, The Buffalo 
Plan of Teacher Training, pp. 599-601. 



Present-Day Agencies 81 

The following outline is inserted as an aid to a better un- 
derstanding of the continuity of this chapter. 

I. EXTENSION ACTIVITIES. 

(I) UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE EXTENSION. 

1. At the Institution. 

(l) ACADEMIC type OF WORK. 

(2) professional type of work. 

2. Courses Outside of Institution. 

(1) by collegiate instructors. 
(a) Academic Type. 

(h) Professional Type. 

(2) BY LOCAL INSTRUCTORS. 

(a) Professional. 

(II) NORMAL SCHOOL EXTENSION. 

(III) BOARD OF EDUCATION EXTENSION. 

(IV) STATE EXTENSION. 
(V) SUMMER SCHOOLS. 

1. Kinds of institutions. 

(1) UNIVERSITY. 

(2) colleges. 

(3 ) normal schools or normal colleges. 
(4) city or county training schools. 

2. Recognition of Summer School Work. 

(1) BONUS. 

(2) SCHOLARSHIP OR SUBSIDY. 

(3) CREDIT TOWARD SALARY INCREASE. 
(VI) TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION EXTENSION. 

(VII) CORRESPONDENCE EXTENSION. 

(VIII) STUDY GROUPS. 

(IX) SPECIAL SUBJECT INSTRUCTION. 

(X) CHAUTAUQUA. 

(XI) VACATION SCHOOL. 

II. TEACHERS' MEETINGS. 

(I) GENERAL PURPOSES. 

(II) TYPES OF MEETINGS. 

1. General Professional Meetings of Teachers. 

(l) TYPES. 

(a) Compulsory. 



82 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

(6) Voluntary. 

(c) Regular. 

(d) Special. 

(2) MEETINGS IN CHARGE OF 

(a) Superintendent or Supervisors, 
(h) Special Committees of Teachers. 

(3) ACTIVITIES OF THESE MEETINGS. 

(a) Discussion of School Subjects. 

(6) Special and General Topics. 

(c) Outside Speakers. 

(d) Local Speakers. 

(e) Book Study. 

2. Grade Meetings. 

(1) ACTIVITIES. 

(a) Plans for Future Work. 

(6) Outside Speakers. 

(c) Discussions of Methods. 

(d) Demonstration Lessons. 

(e) Special Types. 

3. Building Meetings. 
(i) building routine. 

(2) PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES. 

(a) Discussion. 

(h) Professional Reading. 

(c) Special Topics. 

4. Departmental or Group Meetings. 

5. Principals' Meetings. 

6. Teachers' Associations. 

(1) type i, legislative and deliberative 
(a) State. 

(6) Territorial. 
(c) City or Local. 

(2) TYPE II, LOCAL GROUPINGS. 

(a) Activities. 

(i) Study Courses. 
(ii) Lecture Courses. 

[i] Isolated Professional Lectures. 

[ ii ] Isolated Non-Professional Lectures. 



Present-Day Agencies 83 

[ iii ] Non-Professional Series of Lectures or 

Courses. 
[ iv ] Professional Series or Courses. 

Q)) Support. 

(i) Private. 

(ii) Private and Teachers. 
(iii) Teachers and Board of Education. 
(iv) Board of Education. 

(v) Teachers and Public. 

7. Principals' Associations. 

8. Special Clubs or Associations. 

9. Institutes. 

(1) time of holding meetings. 

(2) purposes. 

(3) disadvantages. 

(4) activities. 

(a) Lectures hy Professional Speakers. 

(b) Section Meetings. 

III. DEVICES. 

(I) INCENTIVES AND INDUCEMENTS OF THE BOARD OF 
EDUCATION. 

1. Salary Schedule. 

(1) MANDATORY STUDY. 

(2) voluntary study. 

2. Bonus. 

3. Reward for Exceptional Service. 

4. Scholarship. 

5. Leave of Absence. 

(1) WITHOUT PAY. 

(2) WITHOUT PAY BUT WITH SALARY INCREASE. 

(3) WITH PAY. 

(4) special negative cases. 

6. Board of Education Diploma. 

7. Travel. 

(II) BOARD OF EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS. 

1. License Plan. 

2. Requirements for Professional Study. 



84 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

(III) EXTENSION OF KNOWLEDGE. 

1. Teachers' Professional Library. 

(l) in individual schools. 

(a) By Board of Education. 

(b) By Public Library, 

(2) IN PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

(3) IN SPECIAL teachers' LIBRARY. 

(4) in connection with institute. 

(5) department of superintendence. 

2. Professional Reading Courses. 

(1) IN SCHOOLS. 

(2) REQUIRED. 

(a) By Superintendent, 

(b) By Board of Education, 

(3) SEMI-REQUIRED. 

(4) VOLUNTARY. 

(a) With Superintendent 

(b) With Public Library. 

(5) reading circle. 

3. Collections of Materials, Class Laboratory 
AND Experimentation, and Thesis. 

4. Visiting Days. 

5. Magazines and Periodicals. 

(IV) MISCELLANEOUS DEVICES. 

1. Self-Rating Cards or Devices. 

2. Exchange of Teachers. 

3. Improving Course of Study. 

4. School Exhibits. 

5. Tests and Measurements. 

6. Proposal for Twelve Months' Salary. 

IV. PROFESSIONAL SUPERVISION. 

(I) PERSONAL INTERVIEWS. 

(II) PROFESSIONAL SUPERVISION. 

(III) HELPING TEACHER. 

(IV) DEMONSTRATION LESSONS. 



Present-Day Agencies 85 

V. WORK WITH NEW TEACHERS. 

(I) TYPES. 

1. Assisting Teachers. 

2. Building Assistants. 

3. Apprentice Teachers. 

4. Cadet Teachers. 

5. Substitutes. 

(II) OTHER METHODS. 

1. Training Class. 

2. Model Teachers. 

3. Training School Supervision. 

4. Special Supervision of Young Teachers. 

5. Reserve Teacher. 

6. Special Meetings of Young Teachers. 

7. Visits and Observation. 

8. Teaching-Center Plan. 



CHAPTER III 
THE FUNDAMENTALS OF IMPROVEMENT 

THE SOURCES OF IMPROVEMENT 

There are two ways in which the teaching body may be im- 
proved. The first of these is by the ehmination from that body 
of those teachers who are below the average of the teachers in the 
school system. This elimination may come in a variety of ways, 
either before teachers enter the system, after they have been in 
it for many years, or at any time during their service. Thus, when 
more or better preparation than has been the previous rule is 
required, the quality of the teaching body as a whole is increased 
by just as much as the new teachers of the system are better pre- 
pared for or have had more valuable experience in teaching than 
the teachers whom they replace. A supervisor therefore suggests 
that improvement may come 

by requiring of inexperienced candidates that they shall have attained a 
given per cent of excellence in their Normal School Course, thereby providing 
for a maximum of security against failure. (New Britain, Conn., 1916, p. 16.) 

Teachers may also be eliminated who have served for many 
years in the school system. When these teachers are eliminated 
from the teaching body the quality of that body as a whole is im- 
proved by just as much as the difference between the quality of 
those discarded and the quality of those teachers who replace them. 
Superintendent Downes writes, 

A local teachers' retirement plan has been in operation since 1908. A 
total of forty teachers have been retired to date, either on the ground of age 
and service or because of physical disabihty. . . . That the operation 
of such a plan has resulted in improved teaching there can be no doubt. 
(Harrisburg, Pa., 1919, p. 26.) 

Another plan is that in effect in many eastern cities which 
provides that teachers entering the service shall have had some 
experience in teaching. (See New Bedford Plan, p. 74.) Other 



Fundamentals of Improvement 87 

plans, such as the removal of a teacher for cause, or for inefficiency, 
tend to have the same effect as these. 

The emphasis in this type of improvement of the teaching 
body is upon the improvement of the school system and not upon 
the improvement of the individual teacher. It is then, in a 
sense negative in character. 

Positive and genuine improvement comes in the second way. 
It consists in the improvement of the teachers during their period 
of service. It results in making the teachers, individually as well 
as collectively, better teachers. It is in this improvement that is 
found the greatest hope for progress within the system. 

THE KINDS OF IMPROVEMENT 

In teaching there is an important trinity that in some degree 
must be present in every teacher. These are the mechanics of 
teaching, the knowledge that constitutes the teacher's ''stock-in- 
trade," and, probably most important of all, something that may 
be called the ''power" that is behind both. 

In these three ways a teacher may improve. They do not 
come singly perhaps, but it is certain that the improvement in one 
does not necessarily mean an equal improvement in the others. 
The teacher of broad knowledge and consummate skill in teaching 
may not have the requisite idealism to make his teaching successful. 
The teacher of high idealism without the skills and knowledge to 
back it up cannot be the best teacher. The teacher with broad 
knowledge and high ideals can do little without the necessary skills. 
The harmonious development of all three types of improvement 
constitutes the problem of the improvement of the teacher in 
service. 

The mechanics of teaching consists in the skills that a teacher 
possesses. Improvement may come through the achievement of 
greater skill in presenting subject matter, or it may come in the 
development of those relations with children which are so impor- 
tant in giving to the work an effective appeal. Improvement may 
also come through becoming better adapted to the requirements 
of the school system, through increased ability to do well the 
routine tasks involved in "school housekeeping," through increased 
ability to cooperate with supervisors and fellow-teachers, and 
through increased abihty to deal thoughtfully with parents and 



88 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

with the public ; in short, through becoming better able to assume 
the responsibilities that come to every teacher. These all mean 
improvement primarily in the skills of teaching, and growth in 
any of them makes a better teacher. 

The knowledge that a teacher has is a large element of his 
"stock-in-trade". A wider understanding of the subject-matter 
which he teaches, a broader point of view with respect to it, a 
clearer understanding of its implications and connections, and a 
keener respect for it gained through a knowledge of its historical 
or technical derivations, will undoubtedly tend to make the teacher 
a better teacher. Fresh knowledge, it is generally agreed, adds 
to the teacher's zest and interest in teaching, and therefore helps 
to improve that teaching. 

What for want of a better term has been referred to as "power" 
is the motive or "drive" that actuates the teacher's work, and 
determines largely his attitude toward it. It may take the form 
of greater inspiration in the development of the work that he is 
doing, or it may be new perspectives or a more satisfjnng apprecia- 
tion of his efforts by others. It may be that a greater sympathy, 
or a new attitude may make his work more valuable. It is clearly 
predictable that fresh ideaHsm, or an enhanced conception of parts 
of his work will release new energy. All these are forms of power 
and their improvement or their acquisition makes a teacher a 
better teacher. 

THE PERIODS OF IMPROVEMENT 

There are differences among teachers in the kinds of improve- 
ment they need, just as there are differing kinds of improvement. 
The chief difference between the young and the experienced 
teacher lies in the emphasis which is placed on the type of improve- 
ment which the two teachers require, whether it be skill, knowledge, 
or idealism. The requirement may be a matter of greater need at 
a particular time for one type than for another. It is probable 
that the inexperienced teacher, already having had a grounding in 
the subject matter with which he has to deal, should attain a 
mastery of the technique in its presentation and teaching before 
he should attempt to widen the horizon of his knowledge, or attempt 
to improve the quality of the ideals which he professes. On the 
other hand, for the teacher who has well mastered the teaching of 



Fundamentals of Improvement 89 

the subject matter that he knows the greater need may be the ex- 
tension of his knowledge or the inspiration of new ideals, or both. 

While it is recognized as probable that if all teachers could be 
accurately measured in these attributes and classified it would be 
found that they would be distributed in somewhat the same fashion 
that they would be distributed if measured in certain concrete 
physical attributes, ^that is in a regular progression, — it is con- 
venient here to consider three general classes of teachers that may 
be found in every good-sized school system in this country. 

The first of these is the novice teacher. Granted that he has 
had the usual professional two years' preparation for teaching the 
new teacher enters upon his teaching experience in a new environ- 
ment, facing the necessity of using tools relatively unfamiliar, and 
materials the characteristics of which are but httle known. He 
has a knowledge of the content of the curriculum which he is ex- 
pected to teach, but has not gained a mastery of the technique of 
its presentation nor has he learned how to adjust himself to his 
pupils. 

The second may be called the more experienced teacher. This 
teacher is one w^ho has formed the habits of adjusting himself to 
the school situation and these make it possible for his work to 
proceed smoothly. He has enlarged his outlook but little and 
broadened his knowledge only slightly since entering the profession. 
He is therefore in danger of becoming habituated to a routine de- 
velopment of his class-room instruction. Stagnation or arrest of 
growth is the great danger at this stage. 

The third is the master teacher. Of the master teachers 
there may be several kinds, according to the particular phase of 
teaching mastery which the teacher has achieved, or according to 
the special ability which the teacher has demonstrated. The 
qualifications and needs of these teachers are more fully discussed 
in a later section, (see pp. 130 ff.) 

THE PROBLEM OF THE ACQUISITION OF TECHNIQUE IN THE 

SCHOOL SYSTEM 

The problem of the acquisition of technique is very largely 
the problem of habit formation. The right response must be 
learned and wrong responses inhibited. Then the right responses 
must be repeated and repeated until they become habitual. The 



90 Improvement oj Teachers in Service 

wrong response is just as easy to habituate as the right response, 
providing the result is, to the person himself, just as satisfactory, 
or provided that an unsatisfactory result is not associated with 
the response. 

In professions the acquisition of technique takes two forms 
with respect to the period in which the learner makes the acquisi- 
tion. On the one hand are those professions where it is expected 
that the greater part of the technique that is necessary to the 
practice of the profession will be gained after the learner has 
finished the accepted pre-service training. In medicine the young 
graduate may enter a hospital as an interne, where every act and 
every attempt at practice are closely watched, supervised, and 
corrected when necessary at the time the act is made. In law the 
young law graduate may spend an apprenticeship in the office of 
an experienced lawyer, where, too, every act may be watched and 
if needs be corrected at the time that correction is most necessary 
to prevent wrong habit formation, — that is at the time immediately 
after the wrong act is made. The essential characteristic of these 
two professions, in this respect, is that the young probationer is 
not expected to find in his professional preparation all the skills 
that are required for the successful practice of his profession. 

On the other hand there are professions which must take into 
account the fact that on completing his pre-service training the 
young practitioner must in many respects succeed while standing 
on his own feet, or fail for lack of skill. In journalism and in 
agriculture the truth of this is illustrated. In journalism the 
cub-reporter must be able practically from the start of his career 
to turn in a creditable news story, and his success depends to a 
large extent upon that ability. In agriculture the young graduate, 
despite plenty of so-called ' 'book-knowledge," who cannot actually 
do the job to be done and do it in a fairly skillful manner, is likely 
to fail. 

At the present time, in most small communities and even in 
many cities the profession of teaching is recognized as belonging 
to the latter of these two professional classes. It is assumed that 
the pre-service training has so prepared the prospective teacher 
that he is capable of assuming full responsibility. On this basis 
the new teacher is so placed in the school system that such respon- 
sibility must be either assumed by him or neglected. In spite of 



Fundamentals of Improvement 91 

this assumption, however, it is recognized that the new teacher 
is not adequately prepared to take up the full burden of teaching 
even though the present standard of two years of normal-school 
training may have been met. Such recognition is clearly evidenced 
whenever provision is made for the special assistance of new teach- 
ers. As a matter of fact, therefore, with our pre-service training 
what it is, in spite of the fact that in many places the young 
teacher is expected to assume full responsibility from the start, 
the profession of teaching really belongs in the group with medicine 
and law. In other words there should follow a period of super\ised 
apprenticeship after graduation from the professional school. 

Few would say that a teacher is properly equipped independ- 
ently to assume full responsibility for teaching from the start of 
his teaching career when two years or less of training, no experience 
in the system, and very Uttle practice in his work constitute the 
main elements of his professional equipment. Edith A. Scott 
writes, 

Because real teaching is such a skillful art and demands a first-hand ex- 
perience mth children, educators are coming to feel that it is quite out of the 
question to expect that a High-School graduate with but two years of normal 
training can, without further guidance, teach with the same facility as an 
experienced teacher. (Rochester, N. Y., (3) 1911-13, p. 256.) 

If without further help the young teacher does carry the load 
creditably he gains the necessary skill in the practice in the school- 
room. His native fertility in devising schemes to meet the new 
situations and his native resourcefulness in meeting his problems 
play a large part in his success. The method is largely one of 
trial and error, supplemented probably in rare instances by the 
deliberate application of the general principles that he has learned 
in the professional school. Such a method fixes habits of skill 
just as surely as any other method, and the habits thus fixed are 
just as strong. If the habits that eventually resulted from this 
procedure were always good habits practically the only arguments 
that could be urged against the practice would be the waste of time 
and the harm which would result to the children because of the 
uncontrolled experimentation. Far from being good habits the 
testimony of supervisors indicates that they are far more likely 
to be bad, wasteful and wrong habits, formed originally in the 



92 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

desperation of trying to solve problems of discipline, method or 
social contact. (See Fall River, Mass., 1917, p. 63 quoted pp.77-78) 

The chief reason that these habits are formed is that the 
adjustments involved have not been found not to work. Because 
they have seemed to solve the immediate problem they have given 
satisfaction and have been repeated. They remain thus bad, 
because the young teacher, by reason of his inexperience, his 
inadequate skill, his narrow background and the difficulty of 
analyzing a relatively new and extremely complex situation, 
apparently cannot usually or often distinguish between the good 
and the bad. 

The problem of technique with the young teacher, then, is 
primarily the problem of fixing right habits, of correcting wrong 
habits, and of never allowing mistakes to remain long uncorrected. 

As has been suggested the gaining of technique by teachers 
probably dift'ers in degree with the amount of previous experience, 
and with the quality of that previous experience which a teacher 
has undergone. The consideration here will be for two main types, 
the teacher with very little or no teaching experience, and the 
teacher who already has a large number of fixed, but frequently 
inadequate habits. 

The period of a teacher's career which follows his first appoint- 
ment is generally recognized as a very critical period in the teacher's 
life. One superintendent expresses it as such in the previous 
chapter. (See Rochester, N. Y., (2) 1911-13, quoted p. 72) 

Another attacks the problem from the economic standpoint. 

If the city spends the money to keep a student in the Normal School for 
two years from an economic standpoint it would seem wise to watch over her 
when she becomes a teacher until she is sure of herself. (Cleveland, Ohio, 
(1) 1914-15, p. 48.) 

Two handicaps of the novice teacher on entering a new school 
system and beginning a new type of work are his unfamiliarity 
with the standards and traditions of the system and his inability 
to assume quickly the responsibilities which are necessary. The 
one means an absence of the desirable background, and the other 
a difficulty in acquiring it. From the point of view of the school 
system it is very important that the young teacher's increasing 
acquaintance with the system shall be a healthy and unprejudiced 



Fundamentals of Improvement 93 

one. For the young teacher to gain the right point of view, for 
him to gain that knowledge of and sensitiveness to the standards 
which make for the best type of teaching, — for him to know those 
things which will allow him to make the right choices of action 
and to know that they are the right choices, — makes the develop- 
ing teacher an asset to a system rather than a liability. It insures 
that satisfaction in teaching will come to the young teacher only 
through the achievement of the right things. 

From the point of view of the teacher it would seem important 
that he be gradually and systematically inducted into the responsi- 
bilities of the attainment of these standards and ideals of the system. 
It is certainly a poor way of learning that aUows the wrong thing 
to be done at all, unless, through striking contrast, the wrong 
thing may lead to the right one. It is absurd to believe that the 
young inexperienced teacher, if called upon to assume all of the 
teacher's responsibilities at once, can actually carry them all with 
equal success. It is more probable that some of them will be 
slighted, and in the slighting will bring contempt as a logical result. 
A contempt for a responsibility, once engendered is hard to eradi- 
cate and for the good of the teacher as well as the system great 
care should be taken to prevent such an eventuality. A gradual 
induction into the responsibilities which he is to assume allows 
each new responsibility to be gained in a healthy way. The associa- 
tion of the novice teacher with experienced teachers, teachers who 
have gained their mastery over these problems and have in the 
trial and error process lost some of their earlier idealism, while 
being sane in their own judgments, may give the younger teachers 
perspectives which, lacking the background of the older teachers, 
are inimical to success. Thus the practice of placing teachers in 
an environment of more experienced teachers as a method of help- 
ing them to learn more easily their necessary skills has possibilities 
full of danger that it is well to avoid. 

For this reason the first requisite would seem to consist in 
separating the novice from the other teachers in the system, and 
giving him not only a specialized opportunity to acquire the tech- 
nique but an opportunity to acquire it separated from the more 
experienced teachers in the system. The scheme of segregation 
that has been worked out in Buffalo (see pp. 79-80) seems therefore 
to be a step in the right direction, because, during the time that 



94 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

the novice is gaining the skill that will enable him to stand alone, 
he is separated from the other teachers in status as well as in salary. 
He is distinctly and unequivocally an apprentice. 

A second reason for segregation lies in the fact that the prob- 
lems that the young teachers have to work out for themselves 
have more in common with those of other young teachers like 
themselves than they have in common with the problems of the 
more experienced teachers. For this reason, again, the practice 
with respect to placing inexperienced teachers with experienced 
teachers seems to be unsound. The diffidence that the novices 
might feel in contact with the more experienced teachers they 
would not feel for others like themselves. Problems that older 
and more experienced teachers would pass by, or not understand 
as problems, would be threshed out under especially competent 
and sympathetic leadership by a group of young teachers who 
were all facing the same problem, — an advantage that would be 
missed if the novice were in a different sort of group. The con- 
tacts, social and educational, that the young teacher would make 
with others like himself would seem to make the period of segrega- 
tion intensely valuable to the novice in the acquisition of his teach- 
ing skill. To the school system as well this exchange of ideas and 
development of problems that would otherwise remain unsolved 
by groups would obviously be of great value. 

In consideration of the laws of habit formation the second 
requisite is a master teacher to watch closely the efforts of the 
novice. This contact must be constant, sympathetic, cordial, 
and above all, discerning. It is this ability that makes the master 
training teacher. 

Mr. Pillsbury writes: 

Compare the experience of a teacher under these conditions [unsegregated, 
without the master teacher, and partially supervised] with that of the proba- 
tioner at a teacher-center. Here she is associated with a group which is on an 
equal footing with herself. She feels perfectly free to discuss her difficulties 
because she knows that all the other teachers are going through exactly the 
same experiences, and she has in the supervisory teacher a woman of strong 
personality, high ideals, big sympathies, wide experience, unusual skill in 
teaching. Her ambitions are fostered, her ideas sympathetically considered, 
her difficulties removed. She has a friend, an advisor to whom she can go 



Fundamentals of Improvement 95 

with all her troubles, who is, in fact, there for precisely that purpose. Under 
these conditions, she cannot help but grow.^ 

The presence of the master teacher is for the purpose of con- 
stant supervision and help. It is clearly consistent with recognized 
pedagogical principles that problems be solved when they are 
brought up in order that solutions of direct import may be evolved. 

The period of practice teaching in the normal school is a 
necessary adjunct to the normal-school training, as it gives a 
first hand knowledge of some of the major problems that the 
young teacher will have to face in his independent work with the 
teaching of children. It cannot replace, how^ever, the actual ex- 
perience and contacts which a teacher makes in actual teaching. 
Therefore this period of segregation must not be like that of the 
practice school, with short periods of teaching, with groups of 
children not primarily responsible to the student teacher in matters 
of discipline and correction, with isolated units of subject-matter 
to be taught, and with little responsibility on the part of the novice 
for the results that his teaching obtains. The period of segrega- 
tion must be one in which are maintained actual school-room 
conditions, not merely somewhat like, but identical in every 
essential respect with, those that the teacher will surely experience 
in that system. The novice must assume an increasing responsib- 
ility for the class instruction, for discipline in the class-room, for 
the attainment of school standards, for participation in the affairs 
in the school, for the relationships with parents and with the public, 
and for all the details of school work and school records for which 
the regular teacher in any of the other schools in the system is 
normally held responsible. The master teacher is present, as 
frequently as may be necessary, to prevent mistakes which might 
be costly from the standpoint either of their effect on the novice 
or of their effect on the pupils, and he is there to promote and not 
to prevent growth. 

A further necessity in the development of skill in teaching for 
the novice is the observation of the best teaching that the system 
can boast. To see truly artistic teaching is the rightful privilege 
of every young teacher, and the third requisite in the acquisition 
of teaching skills. It has long been recognized that observation 

^Pillsbury, W. Howard, The Buffalo Plan of Teacher Training, Elementary School Journal 
Vol. XXI, No. 8, April, 1921, p. 602. 



96 . Improvement of Teachers in Service 

of a perfunctory type or merely for the purpose of social visiting 
does not accomplish the desired results. The novice must know, 
first, what he is to see taught, and knowing that, must plan how 
he would teach it. A prime purpose of the observation may well 
be to show the young teacher the differences in the way he had 
planned to teach and the way that the unit of work is actually 
taught by an artist teacher. The novice must analyze these 
differences and definitely see in what way the work observed is 
better than his own plans would have achieved. This gives a 
grounding for conscious imitation on the part of the young teacher, 
and a basis for a change in action,^ It is this final result, a change 
in action on the part of the young teacher, that is the ultimate 
goal. When observation is made with definite purpose, when it 
is made under actual conditions, when there is definite analysis 
of what has been observed, and conscious imitation that its virtues 
may be reproduced there will clearly be in observation that which 
will tend to complement the actual experience of the novice in his 
efforts to acquire teaching skills and teaching technique. 

These, then, are considered necessary to the proper acquisi- 
tion of teaching skills by the young teacher in the school system : 
(a) the separation from the other more experienced teachers in the 
school system; (b) the observation, under natural conditions, of 
the most artistic teachers that the system can produce; (c) the 
assumption of all the responsibility that the young teachers are 
able to carry just as soon as they are able to carry it; (d) the con- 
stant supervision and help of master teachers; (e) the teaching 
of children imder conditions identical with those that prevail in 
the school system; and (f) the association of novices chiefly with 
novices during the segregation period. 

The problem of the gaining of skill by the experienced teacher 
is the same as with the yoimger teacher, the forming of the right 
habits of action. It differs in that it is more difficult to discover 
just what is the right action, and because of the fixed but inadequate 
habits which the experienced teacher has. When an action be- 
comes habitual it becomes unconscious. The real problem is 
therefore to make the teacher, first, self-critical or self-conscious 



^See Thorndike, E. Jj., Educational Psychology, Vol. II, The Psychology of Learning. "Learning 
l^ Analysis and Selection." pp. 35-46. 



Fundamentals of Improvement 97 

of his bad habits, then, secondly, desirous of making the new habit, 
and thirdly, capable of making the change. 

In order to achieve these ends the prime necessity is that the 
school system shall reserve to itself the right so to model itself, 
and to make such modifications as seem wise and proper. This 
right implies certain responsibilities, namely: (a) to fix the stand- 
ards of educational content within the city system; (b) to require 
the attainment of these minimal standards ; and (c) to provide the 
necessary machinery to insure their attainment. Boards of Educa- 
tion exercise this right when they provide for the inspection of 
schools and when they provide for the supervision of the teachers 
in the schools. 

Supervisory control, [says Dr. E. C. Elliott,] is concerned with what 
should be taught; to whom, by whom, how, and to what purpose. It is profes- 
sional and technical. It aims to establish and to maintain for the individual 
teacher and the individual pupil standards of worth and attainment. It is 
concerned, primarily not with the machinery of education, but with the 
character and worth of its products. It centers its effort upon individuals. 
It is emphatically constructive, rather than merely executive. For its best 
results it demands the completest cooperation between the members of the 
teaching and supervisory staffs. For the proper exercise of this form of con- 
trol superintendents, directors, and principals should be held directly re- 
sponsible and should be given entire freedom of action. Supervisory control 
does not lie within the legitimate province of the Board of Education or of 
other municipal boards and officers. 

Inspectorial Control is similar in nature to supervisory control, yet to be 
distinguished from it. It is, also, special in character, and is based upon 
expert knowledge of the conditions and technique of successful and efficient 
instruction. It differs from the supervisory activity in that its primary purpose 
is not personal, constructive service. Its aim is toward an impersonal, objec- 
tive measurement of the results and worth of the school. It serves to appraise 
the products of the administrative orgam'zation and supervisory direction, and 
on the basis of this appraisal to propose new standards and new methods. 
Thus, narrowly interpreted, an inspector's special function is to pass upon 
worth and efficiency. A supervisor must do this and more; he must raise the 
worth and increase the efficiency.^ 

Except within wide limits, or in a very few specific cases not 
representative of school work as a whole, it would seem that the 
system cannot helpfully fix how any particular unit of the content 
of its curriculum shall be taught. This is the clear province of the 
individual teacher, — the vital privilege that marks the difference 

^Elliott, E. C, City School Supervision, Yonkers, World Book Company, 1914, p. 12. 



98 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

between an artisan and an artist. The limit of compulsion in this 
respect should have been reached when the course of study has 
been made both objective and suggestive, and has fixed within 
certain limits the standards of educational content. The school 
system, in determining standards, however, should go the necessary 
step further and require of all teachers, as a part of the service for 
which they are employed by the public, the attainment of these 
minimal standards, at least until such time as it can confidently 
rely on the teacher in full. A discussion of this follows in a later 
section. To do this, makes necessary a judgment as to the degree 
to which the standards set up have been attained — a judgment 
that will be satisfactory to the teacher if possible, entirely imper- 
sonal, objective in every sense, uniform for all teachers, dependable 
in high degree, and capable of adjustment as the need arises. 
This judgment must be satisfactory to the teacher in the sense 
that the teacher must recognize it as eminently fair and just. It 
must be impersonal in the sense that the personal bias of any 
individual cannot enter into that judgment and that it would 
be exactly the same for Siiiy other teacher in a like situation. It 
must be objective so that all teachers may be able to interpret it 
in the same way and not according to individual understanding 
or individual interpretations of certain abstract qualities. It 
must be uniform for all teachers to the end that all teachers may 
accept it. It must be dependable, so that all teachers may trust 
it. It must be capable of adjustment so that there may be a way 
open for progress in the system, growth in the teachers, and 
adaptability to greater knowledge or more recent needs. 

The limitations of this judgment are: (a) that it cannot be 
entirely a rating scale for the analysis of a teacher's personality, 
because it measures only one desirable attribute of teaching ability; 
and (b) it should not be used as the sole measure of fitness for 
promotion within the school system since it involves only some of 
the elements that should be recognized for such promotion. It is 
merely an inspectorial judgment, but as such it is of the highest 
importance in the development of skill in the teacher. 

Of the standards there are at least two types that may be fixed 
for the teacher to achieve. The first is that of content. The 
school is bound by time limits set by the school day, the school 
year, and the elementary school period. It is entirely necessary 



Fundamentals of Improvement 99 

and universally recognized as necessary, that the materials of the 
elementary school education be apportioned carefully. From this 
results the standards that the school system can set up with ref- 
erence to the content of the course of study, and the placing of 
the various units of this course of study in their proper relation- 
ships within the curriculum. The second type of standard is that 
of rate. This is less uniformly recognized, but equally important. 
The rate at which the several units of the school curriculum shall 
be covered as a standard for the guidance and attainment of the 
teacher has a definite and important bearing on his improvement 
in skills, as it is through comparison with this standard that the 
judgment above discussed becomes of greatest value. 

The necessary machinery for the attainment of the standards 
consists, first, of provision for the measurement of the results of 
teaching. This becomes the objective and acceptable judgment 
that is desired. It involves, secondly, provision for the interpreta- 
tion of these results. Thirdly, it means provision for the diagnosis 
of the reasons which have been found to make the standards not 
attained, and fourthly, provision for the correction of the diagnosed 
difficulties. 

Dr. McCall cites the following as his conception of 

the fundamental assumptions underlying a scientific procedure for rating and 
promoting teachers and supervisors. 

1. The pupil is the center of gravity or the sun of the educational sys- 
tem. Teachers are satellites of this sun and supervisors are moons of the 
satellites. 

2. All the paraphernalia of education exist for just one purpose, to make 
desirable changes in pupils. 

3. The worth of these paraphernalia can be measured in just one way, 
by determining how many desirable changes they make in pupils. 

4. Hence the only just basis for selecting and promoting teachers is the 
changes made in the pupils. 

5. Teachers are at present selected and promoted primarily on the basis 
of their attributes, such as intelligence, personality, physical appearance, 
voice, ability in penmanship and the like. 

6. No one has demonstrated just what causal relationship, if any, exists 
between possession of these various attributes and desirable changes in pupils. 
The relation between possession of certain attributes and tne degree of favor 
of a teacher in the inspector's eyes is more evident. 

7. Scientific measurement itself is fair only when we measure the amount 
of desirable change produced in pupils by a given teacher. The measurement 
of change requires both initial and final tests. . 



100 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

8. Scientific measurement is fair only when we measure amount of change 
produced in a standard time. This requirement can be satisfied. 

9. Scientific measurement is fair only when we measure the amount of 
change in standard pupils. The Accomplishment Quotient . . . is a 
device for converting pupils, no matter what their intelligence, into standard 
pupils. 

10. Scientific measurement is fair only when the measurement is com- 
plete. Absolute completeness would require a measurement of the amount 
of changes made in children's purposes as well as their abilities. Absolute 
completeness is of course impossible and is in fact not necessary; partly be- 
cause a chance sampling of the changes made will be thorough enough, and 
partly because teachers' skill in making desirable changes in, say, reading, is 
probably positively correlated with their skill in making desirable changes in, 
say, arithmetic.^ 

Provision for the measurement of the results of teaching 
involves the testing of the children at the beginning of a certain 
period, the period in which the efficiency of the teacher is to be 
measured. This gives a beginning point from which to compare 
and also gives the teacher a definite knowledge of what is expected 
from him, starting at that point thus found. It later involves 
the testing of the children again at the end of the period in question. 
This gives an end point. The difference in the achievement of 
the children, balanced against the requirements of the system, with 
due regard for the ability of the pupils involved, gives an objective 
measurement of the degree of success of the work of the teacher. 
It shows the absolute achievement of the children, and gives the 
data that are necessary in planning the future work of those 
children; it gives the relative achievement of the children, which 
is a measure of the success of the teacher in reaching the require- 
ments of the school system; and it shows where the teacher has 
exceeded those requirements, as well as where he has not reached 
them. 

The greater accuracy of the standard school tests as they 
have been developed within the past few years makes the use of 
them in this connection, even though an indirect judgment, a far 
more accurate one than has ever been possible before. McCall 
writes : 

The purpose of certain methods and materials is to help the pupil grow 
toward a certain goal. Do the methods employed accomplish their purpose? 
We cannot tell without employing measurement. For aught we know, the 

^McCall, W. A., How to Measure in Education, MacMillan Co., New York, 1922, pp. 150-151. 



Fundamentals of Improvement 101 

methods may be actually vicious. They may be forming habits which not 
only do not lead toward the goal, but which may be building up difficulties for 
another method by a subsequent teacher. It is equally true that the com- 
parative worth of different methods and materials is unknown until their 
effect upon the pupil is measureable. This means that measurement is indis- 
pensable to the experimental selection of the most economical educational 
conditions.^ 

McCall cites two methods of measurement of education. 
One of them is the measurement of the causal relations between 
the educational surroundings of the pupil and the desired changes 
in him, and the other the direct measurement of the changes in 
the pupil. He makes the analogy with the levers, fulcra, etc., 
used in the lifting of the physical weight in the one case and the 
determination as to whether or not the weight has been actually 
lifted in the second case. He continues: 

We certainly cannot claim to know the exact causal relation between 
defined changes in pupils, and most of the paraphernalia with which the pupil 
is now surrounded. In spite of our ignorance of these causal relations, the 
chief method of supervision at present is to attempt to judge the presence or 
absence or amount of presence of these levers and fulcra.'^ 

Again he says: 

There seems to be a feeling that tests favor the so-called mechanical or 
conservative rather than radical methods in education. When properly used, 
they favor neither one. Ultimately tests will be the judge to give an impartial 
decision as to which method is the more effective. Until scientific measure- 
ment is extended, however, no decision between the two methods can be 
reached, because present tests cannot measure some of the most important 
aims of both educational conservatives and radicals. Suffice it to state here 
that present standard tests when improperly used may easily cause a greater 
mechanization of education, but when properly used they may easily be the 
salvation of education from too great a mechanization.' 

Even in their present state their use under right conditions, 
plus the guarding that is necessary to prevent mechanization, 
forms perhaps the best impersonal, objective judgment or measure- 
ment of a teacher's success in our present state of knowledge. 

Provision for the interpretation of the results of the measure- 
ment is merely provision for the analysis and tabulation of the 

^McCall, W. A., op. cit., p. 11-12. 
^Ihid., p. 13. 
'Ibid., p. 17. 



102 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

resulting data for the greater convenience of the teacher in self- 
criticism, and of the supervisory staff in diagnosis. 

Provision for the diagnosis of the results of the measurement 
takes the measurement at that point out of the purely inspectorial 
field and into the field of professional supervision. It is for the 
purpose of locating the points where the teacher needs to develop 
additional skills. It is a means of making a teacher conscious of 
his difficulties and self critical of his procedure. Diagnosis may 
reveal a very simple condition the correction of which is merely a 
matter of making the teacher conscious of the condition. It may 
be a very complicated condition the correction of which is difficult. 
It may be obvious or it may be intangible. Whatever it is, it can 
rarely be corrected until it is brought into the consciousness of the 
teacher and a method worked out by the teacher or by others in 
conjunction with him, which actually does correct the difficulty. 

There must, therefore, be provision for the correction of the 
difficulties that are revealed by the diagnosis of the measurements. 
At the present time, with the small knowledge of how they may 
best be corrected in individual cases, experimentation forms the 
chief source of power. The method of experimentation, the trying 
of various methods of attack under controlled conditions, is the 
solution to the problem that has been worked our successfully in 
the Detroit system. 

Taken by itself, without reference to anything else that the 
teacher may be doing, and continued by the school system after 
a teacher has approached a point of diminishing improvement in 
his skills, this plan would undoubtedly serve as a mechanizing 
instrument. After a certain time the criticism engendered by it 
would probably be captious and in the main destructive. The 
teacher might also be encouraged to attain merely the minimal 
standards laid down, thus effectually deadening the teaching in 
the class-room. The school system should appreciate this danger, 
at the same time recognizing the potential values inherent in the 
procedure, and it should take steps to offset the danger, and to 
realize the full values. Testing may be utilized in many different 
ways, of which the way here advocated is only one. It is assumed 
that after a teacher has appreciated the value of testing in other 
ways he will not only be willing but anxious to have tests used for 
the benefit of his children. This will of course improve the quality 



Fundamentals of Improvement . 103 

of his class instruction. Testing may be utilized to prevent over- 
mechanization of school work as well as promote it. Thus if the 
tests are used to indicate the maximum of skills desired in children, 
rather than the minimum of these skills, tests may act to prevent 
undue emphasis on these phases. 

The purpose of this plan is constructive aid to the teacher in 
the perfection of desirable skills, not solely inspectorial criticism. 
Therefore, when the teacher reaches a satisfactory stage in the 
development of his skills he should be relieved of involuntary 
adherence. This in itself would form a desirable incentive to the 
teacher to improve, and is one safeguard that the school system 
might employ. A second safeguard is proposed in a later section 
whereby this improvement in skills is supplemented, during the 
same period that it is taking place, by a voluntary improvement 
in further ways. 

THE PROBLEM OF THE INCREASE OF MASTERY OF SUB- 
JECT-MATTER WITH THE TEACHER IN SERVICE 

The problem of the increase of mastery of subject-matter by 
teachers has been an insistant one, and at least indirectly recog- 
nized for many years. Teachers and boards of education have 
felt it and the problem is intimately connected with the growth of 
the teachers' colleges, university departments of education, and 
other agencies. 

The indirect evidence of its insistence and its importance if 
reflected unmistakably in the data presented in this study. Even 
a casual analysis of the data reveals the almost overwhelming 
preponderance of recognition which is attached by various school 
systems in this country to this phase of the improvement of the 
teacher. In the development of study groups, of special classes for 
special instruction, of university-extension classes, of normal- 
school extension classes; in the growth of correspondence study 
courses, of state extension classes, and similar classes under boards 
of education; in the work of Chautauquas, in teachers' meetings, 
in institutes, and teachers' associations; in clubs of all sorts, 
specialized and departmental; in the inducements and incentives 
for study that are offered by boards of education; in the salary 
schedules and in individual study; in all these is evidenced not 



104 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

only the need of teachers for further study in subject-matter 
fields, but also the remarkably varied measures that have been 
taken to provide for teachers the educational opportunities they 
want and need. 

There is also evidence, direct evidence, of the need, in the 
reports of superintendents of schools. One aspect is shown is 
the following quotations : 

A teacher's period of service may extend over many years. During that 
time radical changes in educational method and practice may take place. 
It is very desirable that all teachers should keep abreast of the times and 
maintain a high degree of efficiency. This can only be done through outside 
study, which demands both time and money. (Providence, R. I., 1915-16, 
p. 61.) 

A feature of the salary schedule in Johnstown, Pa., (1920, 
p. 50, see p. 48) expresses the same need. 

So also in Wheeling, W. Va. : 

A teacher's duty is unquestionably to keep abreast of the best thought 
and practice of the day in her line of work. If there is one thing evident above 
all others in the educational world it is that not only the form of the subject- 
matter of studies but the methods of teaching them have changed. And we 
must change with them. (1906, p. 31.) 

A different idea is contained in the following: 

To be strong stimulating teachers, it is not enough to have once known 
the subject-matter of the course of study. Teachers must continually renew 
their knowledge of the subject-matter they are teaching and of the subject- 
matter their pupils have been taught before coming to them, as well as the 
subject-matter they will be taught after promotion. Teachers must again 
and again re-study the subjects in the light of new knowledge and with a view 
of better adapting their teaching to their pupils. (Memphis, Tenn., 1911-12, 
p. 34.) 

The same writer says later: 

it is easier to reconcile teachers to being entertained by addresses 
by able speakers from the different walks of life, on general subjects or on novel 
educational subjects than to reconcile them to a critical study of the subject- 
matter and methods of the common branches. (Memphis, Tenn., 1911-12, 
p. 38.) 

The study that teachers make in order to increase their 
knowledge of subject-matter seems to be profoundly influenced 



Fundamentals of Improvement 105 

by several factors. The most obvious factor is the courses that 
are offered. Superintendent Downes reports that: 

Two hundred and fifty, or seventy-eight per cent, of the three hundred 
twenty-two teachers of the city, enrolled in the class in applied psychology 
conducted during the winter. . . . (Harrisburg, Pa., 1916, p. 17.) 

It seems probable that if more courses were offered in this 
case fewer teachers would have taken this particular one. Super- 
intendent Boyer writes similarly. (Atlantic City, N. J., 1916, 
p. 20 quoted p. 20.) 

As elements of this factor the availability of agencies, such 
as schools, colleges and universities, which offer work for teachers, 
the availabihty of instructors qualified to give it, and the availa- 
bility of books, magazines, and other materials, are important 
considerations in the determination of what is offered. 

A second factor of large influence is the inducements that 
are offered to teachers to do this type of work. The results of the 
bonus that was offered for summer session attendance at Auburn, 
N. Y., are especially instructive. (Auburn, N. Y., 1918-19, p. 23 — 
quoted p. 23.) 

Credits that may be used toward the gaining of collegiate 
degrees play no small part as an element of this factor. Super- 
intendent Fitzgerald writes: 

The teacher . . . receives credit from the college for attending 
the lectures (which credit counts towards a degree from that college) .... 
(Cambridge, Mass., 1920, p. 17.) 

Assistant Superintendent Gannon reports similarly. (Wor- 
cester, Mass., 1919, p. 706 (34), quoted p. 24.) 

A third element of this factor is the credit or allowance which 
certain Boards of Education make toward increases in salaries 
for satisfactorily completed study. (Beverly, Mass., 1918, p. 8 
quoted p. 51.) 

A third factor consists in the requirements that are made 
relative to the advanced study. In some places professional im- 
provement is mandatory, as in Johnstown, Pa. and Portland, 
Ore. (See pp. 47 and 48.) In most cases, however the require- 
ment is less definite and is influenced largely by the judgment of 



106 Improvement of Teachers in. Service 

the superintendent of schools, or by the board of education. (See 
Bulletin of General Information, Rochester, N. Y., quoted p. 55.) 

A fourth factor of influence is what or how much the teachers 
can afford. The evidence of this type is mainly negative and con- 
sists largely in the efforts that teachers make to bring speakers 
and lecturers to their cities, in the efforts to secure the cooperation 
of the public in these enterprises, and in the success of the libraries, 
clubs for the exchange of magazines and similar agencies. 

A fifth factor which influences the work that teachers actually 
do is their own interest or desire. This factor operates either only 
when all of the other factors are not present, or when the other 
factors, or some of them, are ignored. There is no direct proof of 
this, but if there are no local regulations as to the work which will 
result in promotion, or if the work that is given locally is not taken 
merely because it is offered, or if the work is not taken because it is 
required, or if the teacher can afford to go to the place where 
certain work is given, the work that is actually taken is in all 
probability the work that the teacher wants. 

The work that the teachers take reveals their actual needs 
in various ways, but chiefly through the continued existence of 
the various types of work. It also reveals the teachers' needs as 
lecturers conceive of them, or the needs that educational writers 
and publishers believe that teachers have; it reveals the needs of 
teachers as seen by boards of education or other controlling agen- 
cies; and it reveals what colleges, universities and normal schools 
believe that teachers want. It is all merely a qualitative revela- 
tion, however. It is not quantitative in any degree. Until by 
actual trial and experimentation as to the relationship of these 
needs to the actual results of efforts to meet them as measured by 
the improvement of class-room work, or until some device is avail- 
able for discovering the proportion of teachers that have different 
types of needs, there can be no absolute determination. All that 
is possible at the present time is a relative determination, and this 
is in progress in a definite way in several cities in this country, 
notably in Cincinnati, Detroit, Cleveland and St. Louis. (See 
pp. 14 ff.) 

A provisional classification of the needs of the teachers as 
far as they may be identified in this study may be formulated as 
follows: 



Fundamentals of Improvement 107 

Type 1. Subject-Matter Extension 

This means the enrichment of the subject-matter knowledge 
of a teacher with respect to content of the elementary-school 
curriculum. A large part of the work that teachers take under 
the direction of boards of education is of this type. (See Water- 
bury, Conn., 1918, p. 45, quoted p. 35, and Muskogee, Okla., 
1910-11, p. 20, quoted p. 38.) 

Type 2. The Technical Aspects of Subject-Matter 
AND Subject-Matter Presentation and Instruction 

The field which this covers is relatively narrow at the present 
time but the field is constantly being added to with fresh accessions 
to our available knowledge. On the side of the technical aspects 
there is the psychology of the special subjects, such as the psy- 
chologies of reading, spelling and arithmetic, all of which are fairly 
well developed. Further development in the psychology of such 
subjects as literature, geography, history, civics and the industrial 
arts may be expected in the near future. On the side of subject- 
matter presentation and instruction there is the already abundant 
and rapidly increasing mass of material dealing with tests and 
measurements and their relation to the method of teaching. There 
is further the special and general aspects of the field of method 
itself. It is this latter portion of the whole field that is best 
represented at the present time in the work that teachers now take. 
(See Olean, N. Y., 1907-11, p. 26, quoted p. 60; Trenton, N. J., 

1918, p. 39, quoted p. 22.) 

Type 3. The Theory of Subject-Matter and the 
Theory of Education in General 

Reference is here made to courses in the philosophy of educa- 
tion, educational values, educational psychology in the broader 
sense, educational sociology and the like. (See Portland, Me., 

1919, p. 9, quoted p. 40 and Auburn, N. Y., 1918-19, p. 23, quoted 
p. 60.) 

Type 4. The Subject-Matter Already Standardized 
In Pre-Service Education 
In some cases the subject-matter courses that are given are 
of the same nature as pre-professional courses. They are given 



108 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

for the purpose of giving the teacher an elementary type of train- 
ing that he has not had before, or in rare instances, to prepare him 
for a different position in the school system. While they constitute 
a certain type of improvement in service, and under certain condi- 
tions as will be later pointed out a worthy type, they do not rep- 
resent this so much as they represent the acquisition by the teach- 
er of elements that will qualify him for another sort of position. 
(See New York City, (2) 1914, p. 132, quoted p. 30) 

Type 5. Courses or Activities Not Directly Con- 
nected WITH THE Work of the Teacher 

Whether or not these courses contribute to the professional 
improvement of the teacher depends on the attitude of the teacher 
himself, but the three types of courses or activities which may be 
included in this group are only distantly related to the school work. 
The three types may be termed (a) academic courses, taken to 
satisfy the requirements for a degree, (b) general courses, taken for 
their intrinsic interest, and (c) those activities partaking of the 
qualities of entertainment. In many cases, obviously, the types 
overlap, but they evidence a possible need on the part of teachers, 
and as such find a place in this list. 

Of those courses of the academic type, the following have been 
cited: Indianapolis, Ind., 1916, p. 33., quoted p. 20: and Wor- 
cester, Mass., 1919, p. 706 (34) quoted p. 24. 

Of the courses or lectures of more general character, probably 
taken for their intrinsic interest the following have been cited: 
Springfield, Ohio, 1916-17, p. 60, — quoted p. 41: East Providence, 
R. I., 1915, p. 36,— quoted p. 41: and Williamsport, Pa., 1918-19, 
p. 12 — quoted p. 41. 

The activities of the third type consist mainly of concerts, 
musicals, and the like, supported by the teachers and frequently 
by the general public as well. 

It seems evident that many teachers, in spite of little hope of 
recognition of their efforts, try to improve themselves and their 
work by further study. It is also evident that a little stimulation, 
or the pressure of the opinion of their associates, or the official 
recognition of such efforts, makes many more teachers anxious 
to enlarge their equipment, broaden their outlook, and improve 



Fundamentals of Improvement 109 

their teaching. It is highly inefficient, and wasteful from the 
standpoint of the best interests of the public, for the school system 
not to recognize to the fullest possible extent its duty and its 
opportunity for stimulating in every possible way the growth of 
the teacher in service. The satisfaction of these needs by the 
greatest number of teachers in that proportion best suited to 
the greatest improvement in their teaching should be the aim. 
It is clear that this does not mean rapidity of attainment so 
much as continuity of attainment, and variety of attainment so 
proportioned that there accrues from it the greatest amount 
of improvement obtainable by each teacher. 

The school system is in a strategic position, because it has either 
direct or indirect control so far as its teachers are concerned over 
practically all of the factors which operate in determining what 
studies the teachers undertake. The control which it may exert 
has many phases. It may be mandatory. In itseK mandatory 
control may be direct or indirect, but in the end both types amount 
to the same thing, — namely the forcing of the teacher to take a 
certain amount of work so that he may ''improve." In direct 
control the teacher is required, in order to hold his position (theoret- 
ically) in the school system, to take a certain specified amount 
of work in a certain specified period. Such control is very infre- 
quently found and does not seem to be generally accepted as a 
desirable principle upon which to work. (See Portland, Ore., p. 47, 
Austin, Tex., p. 57, and Johnstown, Pa., p. 48.) A second type 
of mandatory control is somewhat indirect. It requires teachers 
to attend certain meetings the other purposes of which are legitim- 
ately mandatory, such as the discussion of the routine of the 
system, and then using the meetings in part for educational pur- 
poses. This, while in a sense less objectionable than the first type, 
nevertheless has unfortunate features, that are easily recognized 
by the teachers. (See Memphis, Tenn., 1911-12, p. 37 quoted 
p. 46.) 

Anything that tends to minimize the interest or effort of the 
teacher tends to minimize the good that can result from the work 
that he does, and this good is too important to be prejudiced in 
this way. 

A second type of control may be financial. It recognizes 
that there are certain things which the teacher does not have to 



110 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

do but which if they are done by him increase his value to the 
system, and are therefore worthy of some financial recognition. 
This type of control has been recognized to a limited extent, and 
reveals itself in various ways. The two means most generally 
used are (a) the salary schedule, in which attainment of this sort 
from a number of different sources is recognized as a basis for 
salary increases, and (b) the bonus which amounts practically to 
a repayment to the teacher of part or all of the expenses incurred 
in undertaking the work. (See pp. 47 and 26.) 

A third type of control may be distinguished, which partakes 
somewhat of the latter type, but is chiefly a type of stimulative 
control. This consists in offering some sort of subsidy or scholar- 
ship for the taking of the work, — i. e. support at and during the 
time the work is being taken as differentiated from the bonus 
which is a reward after the work is finished, — or it may take the 
form of offering leave of absence for the purpose of study or travel. 
(See pp. 26 ff. and pp. 54 ff.) 

A fourth type of control may be termed ''professional", in 
that it involves the classification of teachers within a system 
according to their professional attainment, which in this case is 
measured by the efforts of the teacher to improve his professional 
equipment. It is generally recognized as a higher and more de- 
sirable form of control than the others outlined. (See p. 50.) 

In all of these types the control consists in the kind of study 
that is made mandatory, that is recognized financially, that it is 
attempted to stimulate, or that leads to professional recognition. 
While the amount of work is specifically stated, as so many credits 
or so many class hours, the standards by which the worth of the 
credits are judged are both variable and indefinite. (See p. 52 
and p. 54.) 

The problem of mastery of subject-matter is for the most part 
the problem of the best use of this control by the school system, 
inasmuch as the control of the factors which contribute to it rest 
so largely in the school system. 

Mandatory control, in order to be legitimate, requires two 
things: (a) a definitely fixed and objective standard of efficiency 
or improvement, which teachers may be required to attain, and 
(6) adequate means for the measuring of all teachers so that the 
exact degree of attainment may be discovered for each one. The 



Fundamentals of Improvement 111 

first is only partially available at this time, and even then through 
indirect means; the second cannot yet even be approached. If 
there are, therefore, at least for the great majority of teachers, 
means of achieving the desired ends that are not mandatory, as 
there are in this case, they should certainly be utihzed wherever 
possible. 

Financial control has two aspects, recognitory and stimulative. 
It is in the power of the school system to recognize the increased 
worth of teachers by means of adequate salary increases, and at 
the same time by carefully planning the schedule of increase or the 
elements upon which it is based, to stimulate teachers to efforts 
to improvement. A basic requirement of the salary schedule is 
that no distinction be made between the different divisions of 
teachers in the school system. One superintendent writes : 

A teacher may be very successful in one grade, but a promotion to a higher 
grade brings her in contact with older pupils and different subjects, and her 
work may become medium or poor. Such a change causes a reduction in 
efficiency and so becomes a loss to the school system. Some provision is 
needed whereby a teacher can receive adequate reward for improvement 
without a resort to the experiment of transferring her to a higher grade. 
(Providence, R. I., 1915-16, p. 60.) 

E. S. Evenden writes: 

Who can say whether any one of these divisions is more necessary or im- 
portant than another, and, consequently, why should the distinction be made 
either in amount of preparation considered necessary or in the salary paid?^ 

Educationally this situation constitutes at present perhaps the greatest single 
obstacle to progress. As long as the situation requires that a teacher riseby chang- 
ing his work instead oj by capitalizing his experience and improving his work, 
little genuine progress toward professional efficiency can be realized.^ 

With the assurance that his efforts toward improvement 
would be adequately recognized, the teacher is relieved from in- 
vidious comparisons, between grades, ranks, classes, or divisions 
of the service. 

A second basic requirement is a recognition of the increase in 
the value of the teacher to the school system because of the in- 
crease in skills. Dr. Evenden says: 

^Evenden, E. S., Teachers' Salaries and Salary Schedules, Washington, Nat. Ed. Assn. Com- 
mission Series, No. 6, 1919, p. 146. 

^Bulletin No. 14, The Professional Preparation of Teachers for American Public Schools. The 
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, New York, 1920, p. 137. 



112 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

The most acceptable plan for granting increases seems to be to grant the 
same increase for each year of successful experience until the maximum is 
attained for that particular kind of work. It would seem that for an adequate- 
ly prepared teacher, that is one who has had six or more years' preparation 
above the elementary school, no annual increase should be less than $100 or 
given for less than six or eight years. ^ 

A third basic requirement is the recognition of the increase 
in the value of the teacher to the school system because of his in- 
creased mastery over subject-matter. This is doubtless just as 
real a value to the system as that of the increased value due to 
experience, or increase in skills. It has been less generally recog- 
nized, however and has been put into effect only partially. The 
cities, (a) which grant salary increases for the accomplishment of 
certain amounts of work undertaken during service, or (6) which 
make distinctions in the salary schedule between teachers holding 
professional degrees, or (c) which make salary distinctions for 
differences in the excess of professional work which teachers have 
taken beyond the minimal requirements for appointment to a 
teaching position, recognize this principle. 

On the stimulative side, in addition to the stimulation which 
results from a schedule based on the principles outlined above, the 
granting of a bonus for certain amounts of work undertaken, for 
definite periods of time, or a limited number of bonuses may, 
while merely adding temporarily to the teacher's salary, be a great 
stimulation to effort, although it does not recognize the increase 
in value of a teacher merely because of the effort. In this con- 
nection Dr. Evenden says: 

This is merely helping the teacher, to the extent of the amount given, to 
pay the extra expenses caused by attending the summer school, and makes 
no allowance for the fact that the teacher is a stronger teacher. . 
Better results would doubtless be obtained from the teachers and better re- 
turns of the investments for the district if this sum, for example $50, not 
only should be given for the year the teacher attends summer school, but 
should be a permanent increase to the salary that she is otherwise entitled to.'^ 

Professional control, too, may be either recognitory or stimu- 
lative. It is closely allied to financial control, and becomes in- 
extricably a part of financial control, when professional attainment 

^Evenden, E. S., op. cit., p. 142. 
*Evenden, E. S., ibid., p. 144. 



Fundamentals of Improvement 113 

is included in the salary schedule. Professional control implies 
the division of teachers into classes in recognition of different 
degrees of professional attainment. It is different from financial 
control in view of the fact that salary differences need not be a 
necessary accompaniment. H. T. Manuel of the Colorado State 
Normal School proposes four general classes of teachers, ''for 
illustration only" : 

(1) The master teacher, a person who has had at least four years of col- 
lege training beyond the high school, and either as a part of his college course, 
or in addition to it, the equivalent of one year of approved professional train- 
ing; and who has had at least three years of successful teaching experience 
subsequent to the completion of the educational requirements. 

(2) The registered teacher, a person who has had at least two years of 
professional training consisting of approved academic and professional courses 
beyond the high school, and who has had two years of successful teaching 
experience subsequent to the completion of his educational requirements, but 
who has not completed the requirements for a master's rating. 

(.3) The apprentice teacher, a person who has less than the qualifications 
required for the rating of a registered teacher. 

(4) The specialist, a master teacher who has the additional training and 
experience to entitle him to classification as a specialist in specified forms of 
educational work.^ 

Dr. Evenden, in his discussion of ''The Element of Flexibility 
in Salary Schedules'^, says the following: 

For example, where it is desirable to increase a teacher's salary over what 
the regular schedule calls for, she may: (1) be changed to another position 
with a higher schedule; (2) be made demonstration teacher for her subject or 
grade; (3) be placed in charge of a special experiment; (4) be made responsible 
for some assistant supervision with younger teachers; (5) be made assistant 
principal of the building in which she works; (6) be made responsible for a 
certain form of community service; or (7) be put in general charge of some 
extra school activity of the children. Many such adjustments may be made 
and in most cases, they will mean merely an addition to the teacher's title, 
since if she is the kind of teacher who deserves the extra compensation, she will 
undoubtedly be doing several kinds of extra work for which she might be 
singled out and rewarded. The use, not to excess of this principle of flexi- 
bility enables a salary schedule to remove unnecessary worry from the teachers, 
and yet retain promise enough of reward to appeal to the most ambitious. 
Each teacher may then strive to acquire special skill in her work, and may 
know that hard conscientious work at all times will undoubtedly not go 
unrewarded.'' 

^Manuel, H. T., Training Teachers in Service, School and Society, Vol. XIV, No. 336, December 

1, 1921, p. 634. 
^Evenden, E, S., op. cit., p. 145. 



114 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

These means of control depend for their effectiveness upon 
the requirements or Umitations they place upon the work that 
they recognize or attempt to stimulate. As has been stated these 
limitations are extremely variable. At one extreme are the limi- 
tations merely of the accessibility of various types of work, while 
at the other extreme are the more elaborate schemes of granting 
credits such as those reported from Beverly, Mass., and La Crosse, 
Wisconsin. (See p. 51 and p. 53.) In most cases where specific 
limitation is mentioned in connection with the granting of leaves 
of absence or for the granting of a bonus, the matter of decision as 
to whether or not the work elected by the teacher is professional 
is left to the superintendent of schools or the board of education. 

The criterion for the determination of the recognitory value 
of any of the courses or studies in question is the improvement 
which they engender in the teacher's work and which makes the 
teacher a more valuable member of the teaching body. It would 
be difficult to say, impossible in our present state of knowledge, 
where the fine should be drawn between the studies that would 
result in an improvement in teaching, and those that would not 
so result. Probably few things that a teacher could do in the way 
of advanced study would fail to have some effect in making him a 
better teacher. Any extension of knowledge, however small, 
would doubtless have a positive influence upon the teacher's worth. 

The real question, however, is not what policy will lead to 
some improvement, but what policy will lead to a maximum of 
improvement. A final solution based upon careful measurements 
is obviously not possible here. All that can be hoped for is a 
provisional solution based upon the best evidence available, and 
guided by principles which will be generally accepted. Few 
people would question that the problem of the school system is to 
stimulate the teachers to the greatest possible growth. At the 
same time the school system must protect itself by circumscribing 
the work that will be recognized for advancement through salary, 
bonus, or professional position, to the end that real well-rounded 
improvement results. 

Before determining in just what way it may circumscribe the 
kinds and amounts of work or study to be stimulated and recog- 
nized, the school system must take account of two factors. These 
are, first, the purposes or sequence of purposes, which teachers- 



Fundamentals of Improvement 115 

have or might have in undertaking the work; and secondly certain 
factors operating in the case of the in-service work of teachers 
which would tend of themselves to limit the values of what the 
teacher might do. 

It is recognized that for various reasons some teachers will 
not be permanent in the service and that others will change their 
work within the service. Many of them will remain in the system 
only a short time. Some will move into other types of teaching 
positions within the system. Some will become administrators, 
or specialists, or supervisors. The studies that are recognized, 
nevertheless, must be of such a character that the work will be 
of value to the school system regardless whether the teacher re- 
mains permanently. Of course the longer a teacher remains the 
greater will be the returns which will accrue to the system, because 
such improvement is cumulative, but the first consideration is 
that the early study that is outlined should have the largest im- 
mediate values. This will insure a maximum of direct influence 
upon teaching among those who will soon leave the service, and 
may also serve to increase the probability of holding in the service 
or of increasing the tenure of some who might otherwise leave. 

For those who remain as teachers, or who remain within the 
system even in other capacities, there comes the increasing import- 
ance of the remote values, those values which become fully realized 
only if the teacher does remain in the system. They are the founda- 
tion elements upon which the teachers may build for the satisfac- 
tion of their ultimate purposes. These purposes the school system 
must recognize and prepare to meet. 

It must recognize that from the teaching staff, as school 
systems are at present organized, must come the larger number of 
those individuals who make up master teachers and the administra- 
tive and supervisory officers of the school system. While it has 
been stated as unsound to expect that a teacher, in order to gain a 
higher remuneration for his services, should be obliged to become 
a supervisory or administrative officer, it is clearly just as unsound 
not to allow those whose qualifications make them capable and 
desirous of assuming such positions, to prepare for them. The 
implication is that if, because of custom or otherwise, there is any 
salary differential between the supervisory positions and the teach- 
ing positions that require equal preparation and comparable 



116 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

ability that differential should not be so large as to tempt teachers 
to become either supervisory or administrative officers unless 
qualified by preparation and ability to do so. 

In addition, because a large part, if not all, of the advanced 
study that a teacher may undertake is now felt to be worthy of 
credit toward a recognized professional degree, and because such 
professional recognition is highly valued by teachers, as is evidenced 
by the large number who undertake such work for degrees, the 
work that the school system recognizes should be of such a charac- 
ter that it will count toward a degree. In order to stimulate pro- 
fessional recognition, the school system should distinctly encour- 
age courses of collegiate grade, and should recognize such courses 
in terms of the accepted professional units, credits, semester hours, 
or their equivalents. Such a procedure would not only simplify 
the administration of recognition, but would add a very desirable 
stimulus. 

The limiting factors connected with the work that the teacher 
might do consist in the continuity, the sequence, and the distribu- 
tion of the study. These are mainly dependent upon the time 
which the teacher has available for such study. The main duty 
of the teacher is the work that he does for and in the class-room with 
his pupils. Anything else that he does must not prejudice his 
work there. This must be recognized as the great differentiating 
principle that distinguishes pre-service and in-service study of the 
same character. 

There must be continuity in the work that is recognized. It 
is generally agreed that a policy which allows work to be taken 
irregularly, and in isolated and unrelated units is wasteful and 
ineffective. 

A true curriculum is more than a mere aggregation of courses, it is an or- 
ganization dominated by a unitary purpose. If this principle is to be worked 
out effectively, each instructor must necessarily be familiar with the work 
of the other instructors. . . . The careful periodic adjustment of the 
various parts of the educational organism is just as necessary as the careful, 
periodic adjustment of a watch or of any other finely organized structure. 
It makes for a maximum of efficiency and a minimum of waste. ^ 

To be of greatest value the study of the teacher should be so 
planned that the growth is continuous. This is the problem of 

^Bulletin No. 14, op. cit., p. 183. 



Fundamentals of Improvement 117 

sequence as well as the problem of continuity. In addition the 
work must be so distributed that the teacher does not take the 
same type of study over a long period so that the interest which 
he may have in it is allowed to diminish. These three factors — 
continuity, sequence, and the distribution of the study — are the 
important factors in determining the curriculum for the teacher in 
service. The time that is necessary for the teacher through in- 
service courses to cover a certain amount of ground is so much greater 
than if the same ground is covered in pre-service courses, that 
these factors become of tremendous importance. 

If an analogy may be justly drawn between the amount of 
training and education which a teacher needs in order to be an 
efficient practitioner and the amount of education and training 
that is considered wise and necessary in other professions it would 
seem that before specialization is encouraged a broad grounding 
in educational fact and theory should be guaranteed. The accepted 
minimum point for this is the gaining of the Bachelor's degree, or, 
in terms of professional units one hundred twenty or more semester 
hours of collegiate study. 

In other branches of teaching this amount of study is becom- 
ing more and more recognized as necessary for the teacher entering 
the profession. The generally accepted minimal requirement for 
a high school teacher, or for the junior high school teacher, much 
of whose work was only recently on the elementary school level, 
is the Bachelor's degree. It does not seem that the subjects of 
the elementary school curriculum are any less easy to master, 
that their range is any less wide, or that the work that is done is 
any less important that the curriculum or the range or the work 
in these other branches of education. There ought to be at least 
the same attitude toward the groundings necessary for the element- 
ary school preparation. 

Strayer and Engelhardt say, 

There is no greater fallacy than that involved in the supposition that those 
who work with young children need little education. The subject-matter 
of the primary grades of the elementary school is extensive if one is to com- 
mand it in such a way as to give the very best service in this part of the school 
system. . . . The special knowledge of children and of the technique 
of teaching demanded of a lower grade teacher is as difficult of mastery as 
that which is required of those who teach older boys and girls. ^ 

^Strayer and Engelhardt, The Class-room Teacher, American Book Co., 1920, p. 388. 



118 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

Bulletin No. 14, previously cited, contains the following: 

A . . . suggestion frequently offered as a sufficient reason for the 
distinction in question is that the work of the four higher grades, commonly 
known collectively as the "high school," is "advanced" work and therefore 
requires the "advanced" preparation of a college course. And it is thereby 
implied that elementary instruction is "elementary" work and requires but 
"elementary" preparation or perhaps only "ordinary common sense." 
Historically there is much truth in this explanation. For a long period high 
school teaching could be prepared for only in college, while no college con- 
cerned itself seriously either with the studies or with the pupils of the ele- 
mentary school. As the normal schools gradually made good their function, 
the studies and pupils of the elementary school became the center of their 
attention. Partly for this reason and partly because the colossal size and 
strangeness of the new problem led many normal schools into obviously super- 
ficial and futile practices, the whole movement was ignored and often actively 
misunderstood by the colleges. 

The work of the normal schools, extended and systematized by university 
and college departments of education, has brought into being a type of prepara- 
tion fully as indispensable to the elementary teacher and to society as a col- 
lege course can possibly be to a high school instructor. The work of one has 
become as "advanced" as that of the other, tho it deals with different materials. 
Compared with the secondary teacher, whose field is narrowly limited, the 
competent lower grade instructor must possess a sure mastery in a relatively 
wide range of subjects — a mastery that the present brief training restricts 
almost to the bare material to be taught. The technical difficulties of teaching 
and of class management appreciably increase in passing from the higher to 
the middle levels of public school instruction; the equipment of the elementary 
teacher in skillful technique must therefore be correspondingly greater. In 
contrast with the strong natural sj-mpathy existing between the well-chosen 
adult teacher and the mature or adolescent youth, a teacher of younger children 
finds a competent knowledge of his pupils and a permanent interest in them to 
be a more remote and more difficult acquisition that must be sustained, if at 
all, by motives implying a large social horizon and purpose. The lack of this; 
due to insufficient education, is precisely the secret of the mechanical and 
commonplace older "grade" teacher, familiar to every observer. 

So far as the work itself is concerned, therefore, it must be con- 
tended that there is no longer any teaching position in the list for which "ad- 
vanced" preparation may justly and profitable be denied in favor of any other. ^ 

From another standpoint at least the equivalent of two years 
of this broad education beyond the present standard normal- 
school training seems necessary. The materials from which this 
further education may be drawn are in themselves so abundant 
and so rich, and their effect upon the work of the teacher is so 

'Bulletin No. 14, op. cit, pp. 133-134. 



Fundamentals of Improvement 119 

important in that they lift the teacher beyond the mere essentials 
of his teaching required for the satisfaction of minimal school 
standards, that for this desired improvement, as well as for the 
laying of the groimdwork of all that may come later, their acquisi- 
tion becomes even more important. 

The curriculum that is outHned, should, in the main, recognize 
the needs of the teachers, first, in the extension of the subject- 
matter of the elementary school subjects. The field is rich in 
possibilities, is full of material of intrinsic interest, and the results, 
in immediate values, are great. It is perfectly possible to organize 
courses, that are worthy of collegiate recognition in arithmetic, in 
English, in history, in geography, in civics and in the industrial 
arts of the elementary school, beyond the limitations that time 
puts on the work of the two year normal school curriculum. These 
courses should correlate with and parallel the work that the teacher 
is doing in the class-room, and as such give that work new impetus 
and new meaning. Because of their large immediate values they 
should form the core of the earlier efforts of the teachers in the 
extension of their study toward the Bachelor's degree. 

Binding these courses together, and making them better under- 
stood, either as separate courses or as a part of the others in the 
form of the newer type of professionalized subject-matter courses, 
should be the study of the instructional technique and other 
technical aspects of this same subject-matter. The returns from 
this type of study are perhaps not so immediate and the values, in 
terms of their effect on the teacher's work in the class-room, are 
more remote, but their necessity is just as great. 

In addition to these, and in order that the teacher may have 
a broader understanding of his place in education, and the rela- 
tionship of his work to the purposes of education, there should be 
courses in the theoretical aspects or principles upon which educa- 
tion rests, courses in the philosophy of education, educational 
sociology, educational values, the psychology of learning, and the 
history of education. 

Assuming that part of this advanced study may be undertaken 
through extension courses, or their equivalents, during the period 
of the year that the schools are in session, the time that it would 
require for a teacher whose education has been two years in a 
standard normal school, would of course be variable. With con- 



122 ImprGvement of Teachers in Service 

given him to exercise his mastery in a wider field. One of these 
might be the use of his services with the journeyman teachers 
somewhat on the plan of the reserve teacher. (See p. 78.) 

(2) A second possibility is his development into a master training 
teacher whose business will be the oversight of the novice teachers. 

(3) A third possibility is his development into a subject-matter 
specialist. In this case he might become an observation teacher, 
a demonstration teacher for the novice teachers in the teaching 
centers, as well as for the journeyman teachers. (4) As a fourth 
possibility he may become a special teacher — that is, a specialist 
in the teaching of variant types of children. (5) A fifth oppor- 
tunity is for his development into an experimental specialist — 
that is a specialist for the supervision and help of the journejnnan 
teachers. (6) A sixth possibility is his development into an 
administrative officer of the school system — a school principal or 
an assistant principal. These are all wider fields than the graduate 
teacher can reach without additional training. They are dis- 
tinctly advances of a logical sort from the traditional status of 
the class-room teacher, and the requirements of any of the positions 
necessitates further study and preparation. 

Once he has made a decision as to his further development 
the teacher should be given a choice: (1) of taking a year's leave 
of absence, either with part or with full pay, so that he may go 
to some graduate school for the particular type of further training 
that he needs, or (2) of continuing his work in the school system 
and his study along with it. In the former case the necessary 
preparation would come in more compact form and its benefits 
would be more quickly available to the system. In the latter 
case the teacher would not need to absent himself from his work, 
but the time of preparation for the new position would be longer. 

With the attainment of this step in his development the teach- 
er should be placed on the schedule for the master teachers and 
further recognized by a significant title. Although the necessary 
stimulation for such a teacher would probably come from his work, 
there is still need for him to continue to study in order that he may 
keep up with the growing knowledge of his speciality and also 
that his teaching may have that superadded vitality and meaning 
which simultaneous growth alone can give. There seems to be no 
good reason why the school system should not make achievement 



Fundamentals of Improvement 123 

so desirable that there would result a number of places in the 
system for persons with the highest type of professional recognition, 
the doctorate. 

THE PROBLEM OF THE INCREASE IN THE IDEALISM OF 

TEACHERS 

The motive or ^ 'drive'' which carries teaching to a successful 
conclusion has both emotional and intellectual qualities. It 
serves to make the teaching process full of meaning and to point 
the work which the teacher does. This important characteristic 
of the make-up of a teacher has been variously styled, no one term 
completely conveying the whole meaning of the concept. Here 
it has been called ''power" or idealism. Others have referred to- 
it under the terms "ethical attitude/' "attitude," "inspiration," 
and "changes in purposes." A formulation in objective terms 
has not been satisfactorily accomplished at this time. Neverthe- 
less, it is recognized as being both a very real thing, or a number 
of things, and an element the possession of which makes for better 
teaching. Regardless of its non-objectivity, even of the sort 
which has been discussed under the headings of skills and know- 
ledge, there can be no doubt that idealism, to give it a single term, 
plays a very large part in the success of the teaching process. 

Dealing as he must with individuals on a somewhat lower level 
than himself with respect to what is being consciously taught, the 
teacher who lacks the stimulus that comes from a personal recog- 
nition of the worth of his services tends to look upon his work as 
perfunctory and routine — an attitude that inevitably reduces the 
values, both immediate and ultimate, of what he does. The in- 
tegrating forces that fuse into a consistent unity his skills in teach- 
ing his mastery of knowledge, and all of the varied ends of educa- 
tion are his far-seeing ideals. These serve to give him new points 
of view or new perspectives. These in turn make his work more 
meaningful to himself as well as to those whom he teaches. They 
aid in giving him a wider sympathy with the efforts of his pupils, 
and a truer measure of their progress. They tend to create a more 
wholesome attitude on his part both toward his pupils and toward 
the diverse elements in the work that he does. A clearer under- 
standing of difficulties which have surrounded the development of 
our educational ideals, a broader and brighter vision with regard 



124 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

to these ideals, a clearer translation of his daily tasks into these 
ideals, and a finer appreciation of the responsibilities which are 
involved in teaching all tend to release new energy. To increase 
this energy is clearly a form of real and vital improvement. 'In 
the final analysis the possession of these ideals, both in relation *to 
past experience, to present necessities, and to ultimate educational 
ends makes the profession of teaching more desirable, more satis- 
fying, and infinitely more worthwhile. 

Teachers doubtless gain much from ^'inspirational" lecturers. 
There are among educators those who can transmit their enthus- 
iasm and ideals to others and who can in well chosen words bring 
teachers to see their work in new lights and in new perspectives. 
The good that such educators do on the whole is unquestionably 
of large value. 

On the intellectual side there are many ways in which teachers 
may be led to a higher idealism. One of these is through the read- 
ing of good books. In addition to any informational improvement 
which may result there may come a new reorganization of the 
teacher's purposes, a clearer understanding of the teacher's place 
in education, or a fresh stimulation toward the realization of better 
ends, A second way is similar to this — really an extension of it. 
It consists in the enlargement of the teacher's knowledge of the 
subject-matter that he teaches. This has certain cultural aspects 
as well as certain professional aspects. If it gives a wider appre- 
ciation and respect for the materials of the elementary school curri- 
culum, if it shows the way toward utilizing better the energy of 
pupils, and if it, too, stimulates the teacher toward ever better 
ends, it contributes much toward the improvement of the teacher. 

A third way is through a more intelligent and thoughtful 
improvement in the philosophy of the teacher. This may come 
in many ways, through contacts with pupils, and colleagues, 
through wide and understanding reading, through classes conducted 
by students of educational theory, and through the guidance of 
master teachers. Whatever may be the means, the ends are all 
one — namely a clearer vision of the varied and especially the more 
comprehensive aims of education; a better understanding of the 
capacities, needs, and possibilities of pupils; a greater appreciation 
of the social consequences of the teacher's work; and ever better, 
ever higher, and ever more valid ideals of democratic education. 



Fundamentals of Improvement 



125 



The real work of the master teacher of children, which is described 
in a later section consists in helping those teachers who need it, 
to translate into terms of practice in the school-room, in the school, 
and in the community, those educational ideals, attitudes, or pur- 
poses, that are known only in terms of theory, or philosophy, or 
sociology, and to which the quality of the educational achieve- 
ments of the future will be due. 



CHAPTER IV 

A SUGGESTED SCHEME OF IMPROVEMENT 

FOR A CITY 

I. THE NOVICE 

This is a teacher who has had no experience in teaching. He 
has had at least two years of standard pre-service education, and 
may have had more. 

The conditions of improvement with this teacher center about 
the character and activities of a period of supervised teaching in a 
segregated center for novices. The teaching-center consists of 
one of the regular schools of the city, the characteristics of which 
are the same as in any of the other schools. The school should 
be under the administration of a principal sympathetic with the 
needs and problems of beginning teachers, and should have in 
addition a staff of expert training teachers. This staff should be 
large enough to permit each novice to have personal contact with 
a master training teacher for a portion of each day. If the school 
day is one of five hours a ratio of one training teacher to five 
novices would allow each novice to have the personal help of a 
training teacher for an hour each day. 

The regular activities of the school should be identical with 
those which prevail in the system. Each novice should have 
charge of his own class-room and be primarily responsible for the 
instruction, the discipline, and the activities which occur in it. 
There should be graded responsibility, under the direction and 
oversight of the training teacher, so that the novice can be gradu- 
ally inducted into the duties which he must assume as a regular 
teacher in the school system. 

The special activities of the teaching-center may well consist 
of discussions on the part of the novices, led and directed by the 
master training teachers, with a view to solving some of the prob- 
lems which they find in their work. It would also be well to hold 
group classes for the purpose of refreshing and enlarging the know- 
ledge which the novices received in their normal-school training. 



A Plan of Improvement 127 

This should bear directly on the work of the class-rooms. In 
addition there should be definite and planned observation by the 
novices of the master teaching in the school system. The charac- 
ter of this observation has been discussed in a previous chapter. 
The additional problem is that of so administering the observation 
that the novices may receive the greatest benefit from the work. 

The salary of the novice should be the minimum salary paid 
in the system. The tenure should be on a yearly basis, and a 
second appointment should depend on the combined judgments of 
the master training teachers in the teaching-centers. A year of 
this supervised teaching should fit the novice for independent 
work in the city system, away from the teaching-center, but for 
novices who have great difficulty in becoming adjusted, a second 
apprentice year might be needed. Novices who cannot become 
adjusted after a trial of two years should be advised to give up 
teaching as a profession. No novice should be allowed to do 
substitute teaching. 

On the satisfactory completion of the prescribed period in 
the teaching-center the novice should be advanced to the next 
grade in the classification. 

II. THE JOURNEYMAN TEACHER 

This teacher has completed the work of the teaching-center, 
and has been appointed as a regular teacher in the school system. 
He has had no preparation of collegiate grade beyond that with 
which he entered the system. 

The conditions of improvement with this teacher center about 
two phases, (a) that of improvement in skills, and (b) that of 
improvement in knowledge or mastery of subject-matter. The 
improvement in skills depends upon the discovery and correction 
of those difficulties which are evidenced in the management of 
his class-room, and in the deficiencies that may be discovered in 
his teaching through the measurement of the achievement of his 
pupils. There should be a staff of supervisors, expert in testing 
the results of teaching and in interpreting the results as a measure 
of a teacher's ability. This staff should measure periodically the 
work of the journeyman teachers, by means of the best tests 
and measurements available. This implies the use of tests that 
are standardized, and the furnishing of sufficient clerical help to 



128 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

score and tabulate the results. In the light of the results thus 
found the supervisors should interpret the quality of the work of 
the teacher and should devise ways and means to help those teach- 
ers in need of aid. 

The activities of the journejnnan teachers should consist of 
personal and group discussions with the supervisors, who should 
analyze the work of the teachers in the light of the measurements, 
and suggest to the teachers ways of improvement. In difficult 
cases, with both the teacher and the supervisor ignorant as to 
good ways to correct difficulties, controlled experimentation should 
be used in an endeavor to solve the problem. 

The improvement in the mastery of subject-matter should 
supplement the improvement of the teacher in skills, and wherever 
possible should parallel it. The effectiveness of the work hinges 
upon the encouragement which is given for the study that is 
desired. A new professional level, above that of the journeyman 
teacher must be provided for the teacher to work toward, and 
every possible worthy inducement ought to be given to the 
teacher to reach it. 

A course of study should be outlined, as prerequisite to this 
new professional level, whose content should be in accordance 
with the suggestions in a previous chapter. (See pp. 119 ff.) Cer- 
tain limitations should be imposed as to the amount of work 
which a teacher may carry at any one time, in order to protect 
the work of the teacher in the class-room. With study of the 
character here proposed a teacher should be able successfully to 
carry no more than four, or in exceptional cases, six semester hours 
of work at any one time. Certain advanced study must be pro- 
vided for during the school year. This may take the form of ex- 
tramural extension courses of collegiate grade given by collegiate 
instructors, or of equivalent courses given at a local institution 
if there is one. The work that is offered at this time should cor- 
relate with and wherever possible parallel the work which the teach- 
ers do in their class-rooms. This means a close relationship be- 
tween the agencies that give the work and the school authorities 
who sponsor it. The class-room teaching should be considered 
as the laboratory work of the courses that are given. These courses 
may be of Type 1, Subject-Matter Extension of the Elementary 
School Subjects, (see p. 107) or Type 2, The Technical Aspects of 



A Plan of Improvement 129 

Subject-Matter and Subject-Matter Presentation and Instruction. 
(See p. 107.) The plan of St. Louis, (see p. 15), that of announc- 
ing courses to be given over a period of years, is valuable here, as 
it would allow teachers to plan systematically practically the whole 
of their work over a considerable period. 

In addition to this the teachers should be encouraged to take 
advanced studies in summer sessions at other institutions. This 
work may be of Type 2, or of Type 3, The Theory of Subject- 
Matter and the Theory of Education in General. (See p. 107.) 
It would be very difficult for teachers to get equivalent value in 
summer sessions in courses of Type 1., because of the necessity and 
desirability of the close relation of such courses to the actual work 
of each teacher in his class-room. The other two types might also 
be more valuable if given in the same connection, but the differ- 
ences in value are probably not so great. Inducements in the 
form of scholarships or bonuses that will help to pay or reimburse 
the teacher for the traveling expenses, tuition, or part of the living 
expenses incurred through attendance upon summer sessions, 
may well be offered. The number of these scholarships allowed 
to any one teacher should probably be limited to not more than 
four, or for an equivalent of no more than half of the work required. 
The reason for this is that, although it is desirable to encourage 
summer session study, it is not desirable to encourage it to the point 
of inducing the teacher to take all of his advanced work in that 
form. 

Study of the Types 4 and 5 should not be encouraged at 
this time and should not be allowed toward this degree, unless, as 
may be found desirable, a certain amount of elective study is in- 
cluded in the curriculima. Specialization, too, unless it is also 
allowed as above, should be discouraged until the teacher has 
achieved the broad grounding guaranteed by his Bachelor's degree. 

The tenure of the journeyman teacher should be on a yearly 
basis, and the salary should be increased year by year in recognition 
of his increase in skills. A maximum might well be reached in 
six or seven years. There should be, during that period, no in- 
crease in salary because of increase in mastery of subject-matter 
unless the teacher receives a Bachelor's degree before he has 
reached the maximum of the schedule for skills. Recognition of 
increase in mastery of subject-matter should be delayed until after 



^^^MMu»m*^- 



130 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

the granting of the degree. The reason for this is first, that the 
completion of all the work included in the requirements for the 
degree may be encouraged, and secondly, that any tendency to 
make the recognition merely automatic, or confused with the 
salary increases for improvement in skills, may be prevented. 

III. THE GRADUATE TEACHER 

This teacher has two primary qualifications. He has, first, 
reached the maximum of the journeyman salary scale for increase 
in improvement in skills, and he has, secondly, been granted a 
Bachelor's degree for advanced study recognized for professional 
advancement by his school system. 

He should be encouraged to continue his growth. This in- 
volves, on his part, a careful analysis of the development that is 
possible for him to make. The school system should define these 
possibilities and should also place them on a higher professional 
level toward which he may progress. After the analysis of the 
further possibilities the graduate teacher should be given an oppor- 
timity to choose the new type of work for which he wishes to pre- 
pare himself, and, after having declared his choice, he should be 
advised as to the curriculum of studies which will prepare him for 
it. Should he make no decision, or wish to delay doing so, the 
school system should acquiesce. A further step should be the 
offer by the school system of a choice of leave of absence, with 
part pay at least, for the purpose of making the further preparation, 
if the teacher has chosen his further type of work, or of continuing 
his study for it without taking advantage of the leave, if he so 
wishes. 

The tenure of the graduate teacher should be made indefinite, 
as proposed in an earlier chapter, and at the same time he should 
be relieved of the supervision experienced as a journeyman teacher, 
although he should have access to it when desired by him. The 
salary of the graduate teacher should be that of the maximum of 
the journeyman teacher, plus a substantial addition in recognition 
of the superior professional attainment. 

IV. THE MASTER TEACHER 

These are the expert teachers of the school system, whose pro- 
fessional training and teaching experience has made them special- 



A Plan of Improvement 131 

ists and whose work should have a wider significance and a broader 
meaning than that of the graduate teachers. In addition to being 
graduate teachers — that is having increased to a satisfactory 
maximum their improvement in teaching skills and in addition 
having received a Bachelor's degree — they have made more 
advanced study in the specialities of their choice. 

The professional level of these teachers should be above that 
of the graduate teachers, and in recognition of their superior pro- 
fessional attainment they should receive a substantial increase in 
salary over that of the graudate teachers. 

The study that is outlined for each teacher, in order that he 
may become a master teacher, should be specifically directed to 
prepare him for the particular specialty he has chosen. The fol- 
lowing are some types of master teachers and some of the pro- 
fessional needs for their development. 

1. The Master Teacher of Children 

This is a teacher who has unusual ability in the teaching of 
children and in the solving of the problems that arise in the process. 
In addition to being able to teach children well he should be able 
to tell others or show others how he does it. He should be able to 
advise with the graduate and journejnnan teachers, should be given 
the opportunity to visit schools and teachers where he may be of 
service, and he should have no administrative or rating authority. 
A special ability in the collection of materials which teachers might 
use, in devising schemes for making the materials of the elementary 
school instruction more easily understood by children, or more 
efficiently presented to them, or in organizing materials for the 
use of teachers, might be capitalized in this way. 

The real work of this master teacher is to assume in the school 
system the work of inspiring the journeyman and graduate teachers 
to higher ways of teaching, of helping them to translate into their 
practice the theories and philosophy which they hold, and of en- 
couraging them in their efforts to exceed the minimal standards of 
the system. 

The special training of such a teacher should consist of a 
special study of the problems of elementary school instruction 
and supervision, and of the sympathetic and scientific approach 
to the problems of teachers. 



^ 



132 Improvement of Teachers in Service 

2. The Master Training Teacher 

This teacher should have great tact in dealing with young 
teachers, a large amount of sympathy and understanding of their 
difficulties, and an ability to help them constructively in solving 
the problems that confront them. Such a teacher should know 
the pitfalls that beset the path of the novice, and have an ability 
to analyze their difficulties. 

The training of this teacher should consist in special study of 
the technical phases of supervision and instruction, the diagnosis 
of the needs of the novice and the problems of criticism and con- 
structive help. 

3. The Subject-Matter Specialist 

This is a class-room teacher, especially expert in the teaching 
of some phase of subject-matter, who does so in connection with 
a class of his own, or else visits other teachers in a specialty which 
all teachers may not be expected to be able to teach, for example, 
music, art, industrial arts, and the like. A teacher may capital- 
ize this knowledge or special ability either through acting as an 
observation or demonstration teacher for the novices, for students- 
in-training, or for journeyman teachers, or else as a special sub- 
ject-matter supervisor or teacher. 

The further training of the graduate teacher for such a posi- 
tion should be in the increase in his knowledge of his specialty, 
and in the technical phases of its presentation. 

4. The Special Teacher 

This is a teacher with special ability in the teaching of variant 
types of children. He must have a great liking for and sympathy 
with the type of child which he aspires to teach, in addition to 
special training for his position. 

This training should consist in a specific knowledge of these 
variant types, and the needs of such children, as well as the psychol- 
ogy which has developed concerning them. It must be borne in 
mind that variants may be children who move more slowly than 
the average, or more quickly, or children, with physical defects, 
such as the blind and the deaf, or children who have special diffi- 
culties with special subjects. All of these should be cared for in the 



^««^„«*«***»***''**'* 



A Plan of Improvement 133 

school system, and each of them requires a teacher with a different 
kind of training. 

5. The Experimental Specialist 

This specialist and his duties have been elaborated in an earlier 
section. Such teachers need training in the use and interpretation 
of tests and measurements, in the psychologies of the subjects of 
the elementary school curriculum, as well, if teacher is a special- 
ist in one subject, as a wide knowledge of that subject-matter. 
A knowledge of the difficulties and dangers in the work of testing 
is as necessary as a knowledge and a facility in the technique of 
giving it. Such a teacher should not have administrative duties. 

6. The Administrative Officer 

The duties of this teacher are both administrative and super- 
visory. He must be able to administer his building, anticipate 
the difficulties of his teachers, make the routine as unobtrusive as 
possible, and at the same time, by wise and sympathetic counsel 
with his teachers help them to improve constantly in their work. 
His position is very important, and his training should be such as 
to develop these quahties to a maximum. 

The diagram which follows is an attempt to chart the course 
of a teacher's improvement in the school system. The terminology 
is merely suggestive, and the fact is appreciated that it is not en- 
tirely satisfactory. The chief reason for not using some other 
terms suggested both by analogy with other professions and by 
interested individuals, is that in most cases the terms, such as 
''apprentice," ''cadet," and "supervisor," have definite meanings 
other than those that might apply to them here, and which make 
them undesirable for that reason. In the diagram below there 
may be many combinations possible. The attempt has been to 
keep as closely as possible to the principles that have been laid 
down in this study, to separate as far as possible the professional 
and financial aspects involved in teacher improvement, to separate 
the incongruous elements now found in much of "supervision," 
and to equate equivalent training and equivalent ability. 



134 



Improvement of Teachers in Service 



Time 
1 year . 

T 

I 

5-8 years . 

t 

1-4 years 



Scale of 

, .Skills. . 

t 



.THE NOVICE 

t 

i 
1 ...THE JOURNEYMAN 

t 
i 



. . . .THE GRADUATE 

t 

i 
THE MASTER TEACHERS 



Professional 
. . Scale 



>' 


^r 


v/* 


\' 


\f 


i 


Master 


Training 


Subject 


Special 


Super- 


Adminis 


Teacher 


Teacher 


Specialist 


Teacher 


visor 


trator 



BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CITY REPORTS CITED IN 

THE TEXT 

Supt. H. W. Dodd, in Annual Report of 
District Superintendent. 

Supt. S. H. Layton, Annvxil Report. 

Same. 

Same. 

Bulletin of Atlantic City Public Schools, 
March, 1916. Extracts from Report 
of Supt. C. B. Boyer. 

Supt. H. D. Hervey, Annual Report. 

Kate P. Boggs, Director of Training School 
for Teachers, in Report of Public 
Schools of Augusta and Richmond 
County. 

Supt. R. N. McCallum, Annual Report. 

Supt. Wm. G. Cleaver, Annual Report. 
Supt. J. N. Muir, Biennial Report. 

Supt. S. H. Chace, Annual Report of 
Superintendent in Report of School 
Committee. 

Same. 

Supt. F. B. Dyer, in Annual Report School 
Committee. 

Supt. J. J. Scully, Annual Report. 

Supt. O. C. Gallagher, in Annual Report 
of School Committee in Town Report. 

Supt. M. E. Fitzgerald, Annual Report 
School Committee and Superintendent 
of Schools. 

Same. 

Supt. of Instruction J. K. Baxter, in An- 
nual Report oj Public Schools. 

Rules of the Board, in Annual Report of 
Public Schools. 

Supt. J. J. McConnell, Annual Report. 

Supt. R. K. Bennett, in Annual School 
Report. 



Allentown, Pa., 


1917-18 


Altoona, Pa., 


1917-18 




1918-19 




1919-20 


Atlantic City, N. J., 


1916 


Auburn, N. Y., 


1918-19 


Augusta, Ga., 


1913 


Austin, Tex., 


1907 


Bethlehem, Pa., 


1915-16 




1918-20 


Beverly, Mass., 


1917 




1918-19 


Boston, Mass., 


1917 


Brockton, Mass., 


1919 


Brookline, Mass., 


1920 



Cambridge, Mass., 



1916 



1920 
Canton, Ohio, (1) 1911-12 

(2) 1911-12 

Cedar Rapids, la., 1913-14 

Central Falls, R. I., 1921 



136 



Improvement of Teachers in Service 



Chester, Pa., 



1910-11 



1914-15 



Chicago, 111., 




1915 


Cincinnati, 0., 


(1) 


1914 




(2) 


1914 
1916 
1917 


Cleveland, 0., 


(1) 


1914-15 




(2) 


1914-15 


■ 




1915-16 


Columbia, S. C, 




1913-14 


Columbus, Ga., 




1916 


Cranston, R. I. 




1914 


Dallas, Tex., 




1915 


Dayton, 0., 




1913-14 


Denver, Colo., 


(1) 1918-19 




(2) 


1918-19 


Detroit, Mich., 




1913-14 
1920 


Duluth, Minn., 




1912 



1918 



East Providence, R. I., 1915 
Elmira, N. Y., 1912-13 

1915-16 



Supt. Thos. S. Cole, in Manual of Public 
Schools of the School District of Ches- 
ter, Pa. 

Supt. J. L. Eisenburg, in ManuM of 
Public Schools of the School District 
of Chester, Pa. 

Principal Owen, Normal Training School, 
in AnnuM Report of the Board of 
Education. 

Supt. R. J. Condon, 85th Annual Report 

of Superintendent. 
Dean W. P. Burris, S5th AnnuM Report 

of Superintendent. 
Dean W. P. Burris, S7 th AnnuM Report 

of Superintendent. 
Supt. R. J. Condon, S7th Annual Report 

of Superintendent. 

Supt. J. M. H. Frederick, 79^/i Annual 

Report of Superintendent. 
Asst. Supt. E. A. Hotchkiss, in l^th Annual 

Report of Superintendent. 
Supt. J. M. H. Frederick, 80th Annual 

Report. 

Supt. E. S. Dreher, Annual Report. 
Supt. R. B. Danniel, Annual Report. 
Supt. W. C. Hobbs, in Annual Report 

School Committee. 
Supt. J. F. Kimball, Annual Report. 

Supt. E. J. Brown, Annual Report. 

Emma B. Brown, Principal Columbian 
School in 16^^ Annuxil Report of 
Superintendent. 

Supt. C. S. Cole, in IQth Annual Report 
of Superintendent. 

Supt. C. E. Chadsey, Annual Report. 

Annual Report of Board of Education. 

Supt. R. C. Denfeld, Annual Report. 
(Typewritten.) 

Ethel I. Saulsbury, Supervisor of Kinder- 
garten and Primary Department in 
Reports of Supervisors in Annua 
Report of Board of Education. 

Supt. J. R. D. Oldham, Annual Report. 

Supt. A. J. Jacoby, Annual Report. 

Same. 



Bibliography 



137 



Everett, Mass., 
Fall River, Mass., 



Fargo, N. D., 
Fitchburg, Mass., 
Harrisburg, Pa., 



Haverhill, Mass., 
Houston, Tex., 

Indianapolis, Ind., 
Jamestown, N. Y., 



Jersey City, N. J., 

Johnstown, Pa., 
Kansas City, Mo., 



Kenosha, Wis., 

Kingston, N. Y., 
La Crosse, Wis., 

Lakewood, O., 
Lewiston, Me., 
Lynn, Mass., 

Manchester, N. H., 

Memphis, Tenn., 

Moline, 111., 

Mt. Vernon, N. Y., 

Muskogee, Okla., 
New Bedford, Mass., 



1918 Supt. F. Whitney, in Annual Report of 

School Committee. 

1917 Margaret A. Lynch and Ruth Negus, 

Primary Supervisors, in Annual 
Report of Superintendent. 

1918 Supt. H. L. Belisle, Annual School Report. 
1917-19 Supt. A. Deemer, Biennial Report. 

1914 Supt. J. Chalmers, in Annuxil School Report. 
1916 Supt. F. E. Downes, Annual Report. 

1919 Same. 

1920 Same. 

1919 Supt. C. H. Dempsey, Annu^il Report. 
1915-16 Supt. P. W. Horn, Annual Report. 
1916-17 Same. 

1916 Supt. J. G. CoUicott, Annual Report. 

1909-12 Supt. R. R. Rogers, Triennial Report 

Public Schools. 
1915-18 Same. 

1913-14 Supt. H. Snyder, 4:6th Annual Report of 
Superintendent. 

1920 Supt. H. J. Stockton, Annual Report. 

1916 Supt. I. I. Cammack, Annual Report. 

1917 M. W. Deputy, Director of Teacher Train- 

ing and Extension Work, in Annual 
Report of Superintendent. 

1915 Mrs. Mary D. Bradford, Supt. Annual 

Report. 
1911-12 Supt. M. J. Michael, Annual Report. 

1918 Supt. B. E. McCormick, Annual Report. 
1920 Same. 

1918-19 Supt. C. P. Lynch, Annual Report. 
1919-20 Supt. C. W. Bickford, Annual Report. 

1915 Supt. C. S. Jackson, in Annual Report of 

Superintendent. 
191-920 Asst. Supt. Lorena M. Frost, in Annual 

Report of School Committee. 
1911-12 Supt. L. E. Wolfe, Annual Report. 
1912-13 Same. 

1916 Supt. L. A. Mahoney, Annual Report. 

1916 Supt. W. H. Holmes, Annual Report. 

1917 Same. 

1910-11 Supt. E. S. Monroe, Annual Report. 

1919 Supt. A. P. Keith, in Annual Report of 

School Department. 

1920 Same. 



it^jntfifcv^'.: 



138 



Improvement of Teachers in Service 



New Britain, Conn., 1916 



NewYorkCity,N.Y. 


,(1) 


1914 




(2) 


1914 
1915 


North Adams, Mass 


•J 


1920 


Olean, N. Y., 




1907-11 


Philadelphia, Pa., 




1915 


Pittsburgh, Pa., 




1916 


Pittsfield, Mass., 




1916 


Portland, Me., 




1919 


Portland, Ore., 




1915 
1918 


Poughkeepsie, N.Y., 




1915 


Providence, R. I., 




1915-16 


Quincy, Mass., 




1916 


Raleigh, N. C, 




1913-14 
1915-16 


Reading, Pa., 




1910-11 


Richmond, Va., 




1914 
1915 




(1) 


1917 




(2) 


1917 



Rochester, N. Y., (1) 1911-13 



St. Louis, Mo., 



(2) 1911-13 

(3) 1911-13 

(1) 1916-17 



(2) 1916-17 



(3) 1916-17 
Salt Lake City,Utah, 1916 
Savannah, Ga., 1911 



Miss Fallon, Supervisor of Instruction for 
Elementary Grades in Annual Report 
of Superintendent. 

Thos. W. Churchill, President Board of 

Education, Annual Report. 
Supt. Wm. H. Maxwell, Annual Report. 
Same. 

Supt. B. J. Merriam, Annual Report. 

Supt. S. J. Slawson, in Course of Study 
of Olean Public Schools. 

Supt. J. P. Garber, Annual Report. 

Supt. Wm. Davidson, Annuxil Report. 

Supt. C. G. Persons, Annual Report. 

Supt. E. D. Fuller, Annual Report. 

Supt. L. R. Alderman, Annual Report. 

Same. 

Supt. S. R. Shear, Annuxil Report. 

First Asst. Supt., in Annual Report of 
School Committee. 

Supt. A. L. Barbour, Annual Report. 

Supt. F. M. Harper, in Annuxil Report 
of Raleigh Township Graded Schools. 

Same. 

Supt. C. E. Foos, in Annual Report of 
Board of Education. 

Supt. J. A. C. Chandler, Annual Report. 

E. E. Smith, Third Asst. Supt., in Annual 
Report of Superintendent. 

Supt. J. A. C. Chandler, Annual Report. 

Minnie L. Davis, Supervisor of Primary 
Grades in Annual Report of Superin- 
tendent. 

P. B. Duffy, Report of President of Board 
of Education. 

Supt. H. S. Weet, Triennial Report. 

Edith A. Scott, The Normal Training 
School, in Triennial Report. 

Progress of St. Louis Schools During 
Superintendent Blewett's Adminis- 
tration, in Annual Report of Public 
Schools. 

E. Geo. Payne, Section in Annual Report 
of St. Louis Public Schools. 

Annual Report of St. Louis Public Schools. 

Supt. E. A. Smith, Annual Report. 

Supt. L. R. Myers, Annual Report. 



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139 



Scranton, Pa., 

Seattle, Wash., 
Sheboygan, Wis., 

Somerville, Mass., 
Spartanburg, S. C, 
Spokane, Wash., 
Springfield, Ohio, 



Stamford, Conn., 



Superior, Wis., 
Topeka, Kas., 

Trenton, N. J., 



Utica, N. Y., 
Washington, D. C, 

Waterbury, Conn., 



WheeHng, W. Va., 

Wichita, Kas., 

Williamsport, Pa., 
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Worcester, Mass., 



1915 

1910 
1913-14 

1918-19 

1918-19 

1911-12 

1913 

1916-17 

1921 

1917 

1921 

1912-13 

1913-14 

1914-15 

1915 

1916 

1917 

1918 

1914-15 

1915 

1916 

1918 



1906 

1908 

1912-13 

1913-14 

1918-19 

1919 

1919 



Supt. S. E. Weber, Annual Report oj 

School Directors. 
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Supt. H. F. Leverenz, Manual of Public 

Schools. 
Supt. C. S. Clark, Annual Report. 
Supt. F. Evans, Annual Report. 
Supt. B. M. Watson, Annual Report. 
Supt. C. Boggess, Annual Report. 
Supt. G. E. McCord, Annual Report. 
Same. 
Supt. Thompson, Annual Report of School 

Committee. 
Same. 

Supt. W. E. Maddock, Annual Report. 
Supt. H. B. Wilson, Annual Report. 
Same. 
Supt. E. Mackey, Annual Report of Board 

of Education. 
Same. 
Same. 
Same. 

Supt. W. B. Sprague, Annuxil Report. 
Annual Report of Superintendent. 
Same. 
Supervisor of Kindergarten and Primary 

Grades in Annuxd Report of Board of 

Education. 
Supt. H. B. Work, Annual Report. 
Same. 

Supt. L. W. Mayberry, AnnuM Report. 
Same. 

Supt. F. W. Robbins, Annuxil Report. 
Supt. W. A. Mowry, in Annual Report 

of School Committee. 
Asst. Supt. J. F. Gannon, in Public School 

Report. 



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